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MANUAL OF 


GHRISTIAN EVIDENCES 


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MANUAL OF 


CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES 


BY 


GEORGE PARK FISHER, D.D., LL.D. 


TITUS STREET PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN YALE UNIVERSITY 


NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 
1890 | 


_ CopyniaHr, 1888, BY 


eo “TROW's ee 2 
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, 


PREFACE. 


Tun half-formed intention to write a short manual 
of Christian Evidences, which I had for some time en- 
tertained, took a definite form on account of requests 
coming to me from persons entitled to respect, some 
of whom were engaged in the practical work of teach- 
ing. It appeared to me that a brief book, confining 
itself to the Evidences of Revealed Religion, and set- 
ting forth in a connected form the principal topics of 
definition and proof, would be useful to readers and 
to pupils who have not time for the study of more 
extended treatises.’ 

Paley’s Evidences, which was so long the standard 
text-book on the subject, notwithstanding the signal 
merits which characterize it, has one striking fault. 
To the internal evidence a very subordinate place is 


assigned. The argument for miracles is deprived of 


1In ‘*The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief” (Charles 
Scribner’s Sons, 1883), I have handled the main topics of Natural 
Theology, and have presented more in detail the proofs of Revelation. 
In that work, controverted points are discussed more at length. 


v1 PREFACE. 


the legitimate, if not indispensable, advantage which 
is gained by a preliminary view of the need and the 
intrinsic excellence of the Christian Revelation. More- 
over, the aspects of skepticism and disbelief have some- 
what changed since Paley’s time. Books like Strauss’s 
“Life of Jesus” had not then been written. Patristic 
study has also made advances. The proofs from this 
source require some revision. Besides, Paley’s work 
is too long for the demands of those for whom the 


present manual is designed. 


G. PAR 
Nrw Haven, May 16, 1888. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 
PAGE 
WHAT IS TO BE PROVED AND THE NATURE OF THE EVI- 
DENCE, ; ; : ‘ 2 ; : : Pat 
CHAPTER II. 


WHat IS MEANT BY MIRACLES? THE POSSIBILITY OF 
THEM, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PROVING THEM, . 9 


CHAPTER III. 


“4. How THE ANTECEDENT PRESUMPTION AGAINST THE OC- 


CURRENCE OF MIRACLES 18 SET ASIDE, . : puna | 
CHAPTER IV. 

<< ADMITTED FACTS RESPECTING CHRISTIANITY, : ~ 28 
CHAPTER V. 


~S~ PrRoor OF THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN- 
ITY FROM THE PORTRAITURE OF THE CHARACTER 
OF JESUS IN THE EVANGELISTS, Sei ee : “i sae 


vill CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VI. 
PAGE 


PROOF OF THE MIRACLES FROM PECULIAR FEATURES 
OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES, . ; 4 ; SO k 


CHAPTER VII. 


PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FROM STATE- 
MENTS BY THE APOSTLE PAUL, ss 5 Pre: | 


CHAPTER VIII. 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS, : S ° han 
CHAPTER IX. 
TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE TESTIMONY OF THE APpos- 
TLES, . : : : : , : : ; <saae 
CHAPTER X. 
THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FROM THE 
EVANGELISTS, z : ; ; Z ~7 752 
CHAPTER XI. 


ALLEGED ERRORS OF THE APOSTLES IN MATTERS OF 
OPINION, . ‘ ‘ : , ; : : Aer \¢) 


CHAPTER XII. 


ALLEGED DIFFICULTIES IN THE CONNECTION OF CHRIST- 
IANITY WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT RELIGION, ote 


CHAPTER XIII. 


PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY FROM PROPHECY, , ‘ . 95 


CONTENTS. 1X 


CHAPTER XIV. 


PAGE 
“< ARGUMENT FOR CHRISTIANITY FROM THE CONVERSION 
AND THE CAREER OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, . E200 


CHAPTER XV. 


4. PROOF OF THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY FROM 
THE INTRINSIC EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
SYSTEM, : ; : : , 5 : . 108 


CHAPTER XVI. 


PRooF AFFORDED BY THE CONTRAST OF CHRISTIANITY 
WITH OTHER RELIGIONS AND WITH PHILOSOPHICAL 
SYSTEMS, . : : : ; : : : OF 


CHAPTER XVII. 


A“CORROBORATIVE PROOF OF THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIAN- 
ITY FROM ITS UTILITY, . . : : : . 114 


CHAPTER XVIII. 
“s. CORROBORATIVE PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY FROM ITS 


RAPID SPREAD IN THE FIRST CENTURIES, : Ba va 


INDEX, ° : : ; : ; , 5 : ~ 134 


CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


CHAPTER I. 
WHAT IS TO BE PROVED AND THE NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE. 


Tue design of this book is to prove that the nar- 
ratives of the life of Jesus which are contained in 
the New Testament are true, and that Christianity - 
has a supernatural, divine origin and sanc- 
tion. Did Christ speak from himself, or 
was his doctrine “of God” in a sense not to be 
affirmed of any system of which man alone is the 
author?’ Is Christianity, in distinction from other 
religions, stamped with an authoritative character, 
as being a revelation from God? If the history of 
Jesus as it is recorded in the Gospels, and of the 
planting of the Church as it is described in the Acts 
and the Epistles, is worthy of belief, these eur 
tions must have an affirmative answer. 

The subject of the present inquiry should be kept 
distinctly in view. The purpose isnot to prove the 


The question. 


1 — whether it be of God, or whether I speak from myself,” John 
vii. 17 (Revised Version). 
1 


~ 


2 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


truths of natural religion. The existence of God and 
the fact of his government of the world are taken 
fy for granted. It is true that, through the 
What itisnot . : : oem ite : 
designed to Impression which Christianity makes, one 
ee. may have his doubts on these funda- 
mental points removed. Christianity, even prior 
to the examination of its external proofs, may 
awaken a more clear perception of the being of 
God, and a more firm and vivid conviction of the 
Tree and responsible nature of man, and of the 
reality of a future life. But great as the qnicken- 
ing and enlightening influence of Revelation may 
be in this direction, it is the function of Natural 
‘Theology to set forth the grounds of theism and 
what reasons exist for believing man to be im- 
mortal. Nor is it our purpose to take up the ques- 
tion of the enspiration of the Scriptures—the ques- 
tion whether, and to what extent, the authors of. 
the books of the Bible were aided by the Spirit of 
God in the composition of them. This is an im- 
portant topic of theology, but it is not involved in 
our present undertaking. Nor, once more, is it 
necessary to inquire whether or not the Gospel 
narratives are free from discrepancies and like im- 
perfections, such as pertain in some degree to ‘the 
most trustworthy historical writings. The 7 
stantial verity of the New ‘Dostana histories is 
the only point that we are at present called upon 
to establish. We may illustrate these distinctions. 


WHAT IS TO BE PROVED. 3 


John Marshall wrote the Life of Washington. He 
had personally known Washington and, besides, re- 
sorted to authentic documents and to other sources 
of information. Marshall was an intelligent and 
upright man. Hence the biography which he com- 
posed is substantially accurate. It is conceivable, 
however, that Washington should have himself 
read the proof-sheets, and (supposing his own mem- 
ory to be perfect) have removed all errors, even the 
most minute, or even that he should have dictated 
the entire biography, with the exception of the ac- 
count of his own death. But the author, whether 
he wrote with these special advantages or not, was 
so placed as to be qualified to produce a narrative 
which should be in all its material features correct. 
Mesiting of In the Evidences of Christianity are 
ness" andot included the proofs of the genwineness 
“reams” and of the credibility of the New Testa- 
ment writings. A writing is genwine if it was writ- 
ten by the author to whom it is ascribed. But it is 
well to remark that a narrative may be credible, or 
authentic, even if the ordinary view taken of its 
authorship is mistaken. If Julius Czesar’s Com- 
mentaries, in which he speaks of himself in the 
third person, were to be found to have been writ- 
ten, not by him, but by an intelligent and truth- 
ful Roman officer who was with him through the 
Gallic wars, or even by some competent person 
to whom Ceesar had related the facts, that work, 


4 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


although not genuine, would still be authentic. Re. 
specting the New Testament histories, the main 
point to be first established is that they present fair- 
ly the testimony of the Apostles, the immediate com- 
panions of Jesus. The question of the anthorship 
of these books is important, but that of their date 
and of other circumstances relating to their origin 
and early reception, are of more vital consequence. 
The proofs of the truth of the Gospel histories 
are of the same kind as those on which our be- 
lief in other historical works is founded. 
torieatevi «We require as the warrant for believing 
ee in such narratives that they shall rest 
upon credible testimony of witnesses or well-in- 
formed contemporaries, A certain value belongs to 
tradition—a value varying with the degree of near- 
ness of the events, and in some measure with other 
circumstances. Moreover, a great many things may 
serve to corroborate—or else to disprove—historical 
statements. Occurrences, if they are of a very im- 
portant character, produce effects upon society in a 
great many different ways. These effects remain as 
monuments of the events in which they had their 
origin. Thus, the great fact of the War of the 
American Revolution is attested by the existence 
of the Republic of the United States, and by the 
character of its institutions, not to dwell on minor . 
consequences, such as the public observances which 
commemorate the birth of the nation. 


NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE. 5 


The evidences of Christianity, like historical 
proofs generally, are probable, as distinguished 

from demonstrative. In the case of de- 
SO RbInetiL monstrative proof, the opposite of the 
ot thing asserted is not only false, it is an- 
conceivable. This is not true of anything depend- 
ing on probable or moral evidence. There are de- 
grees of probability. Thus we say of one thing 
that it is “slightly probable;” of another, that it 
is “very probable;” and of a third, that it is “ex- 
tremely,” or “in the highest degree” probable. It 
should be observed, however, that in numberless 
cases where the evidence is of the kind termed 
“probable,” we are absolutely free from doubt. 
We may never have seen London, but we have not 
a whit more doubt that London exists than we have 
that the sum of the three angles of a triangle is 
equal to two right angles. We never saw Napo- 
leon the First, but we are not less certain that Na- 
poleon lived than we are that two parallel lines, 
however prolonged, will never meet. To entertain 
a doubt on the one proposition would be as deci- 
sive a proof of insanity as to entertain a doubt on 
the other. 

The proofs of Christianity are cumulative. This 
is a circumstance which inquirers and disputants 
The evidence 2F@ Very apt to overlook. In regard to 
cumulative. g]] the main propositions involved in the 
case, the evidence is made up of many particulars, 


6 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


all together pointing to the same conclusion. Un. 
der this head there are two mistakes to be avoided. 
One consists in demanding a demonstration for 
each item in the evidence, where, in the nature of 
things, no demonstration is possible. The other 
mistake, which is hardly less grave, is in isolating 
each particular of proof, as if it stood by itself. It 
is the old error of assuming that because a single 
rod may perchance be broken, the whole bundle is 
equally fragile. 

The proofs of Christianity are either enternal, or 
external. The external evidence is the testimony, 
“Rxtemal» Simply considered, to the facts which are 
ae: zelated= in: the Gospels. The internal 
eons evidence includes everything in the sys- 
tem of Christianity itself which is adapted to in- 
spire faith in its truth and divine origin. “ Chris- 
tianity is founded upon certain great primary wants 
and affections of the human soul, which it meets, 
to which it corresponds, and of which it furnishes 
the proper objects and satisfactions, There is the 
feeling after a God; there is the instinct of prayer ; 
there is conscience and the sense of sin; there is 
the longing for and dim expectation of immortality. 
Christianity supplies the counterpart of these affec- 
tions and wants of the soul, and it is as supplying 
this counterpart that it recommends itself in the 
first instance to ug; it appeals to our belief upon 
the strength of its own characteristics, at the same 


NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE. fs 


time that it comes before us as a subject of exter- 
nal evidence. The nature of Christianity, and its 
correspondence to our own nature, has a legitimate 
influence upon our minds, before any other con- 
sideration; it is one part of the whole Christian 
evidence, and a valid and necessary part, without 
which the other, or the historical proof, is reason- 

ably and logically deficient.” * 
It will be generally acknowledged that for the due 
appreciation of the evidences of Revelation, earnest 
attention and a candid temper are req- 

The affections , , 

pee panies of uisite. It must be added that the affec- 
tions form one element in determining 
the judgment. On other subjects it is true that 
the data for a judgment must be drawn in part 
from other sources than the understanding. It is 
plain that in deciding questions in the fine arts— 
such as the genuineness of a painting or the merit 
of a piece of music—a sympathetic tact, native or 
acquired, is demanded. The like is true respecting 
questions where the moral excellence, whether of 
teaching or of personal character, is involved. The 
evidence is made up in part of impressions, and 
these depend on the inward state of the person who 
is to pass judgment. “We cannot possibly enter 
deeply into character without affections; we cannot 
estimate or comprehend truly, we cannot embrace 
keenly and with a living force, what is beautiful, 


1J. B. Mozley’s Lectures and other Theological Papers, p. 3. 


8 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


profound, and touching in the mind and disposition 
of any person of extraordinary goodness, unless 
there are affections in us which enable us to seize 
hold of their moral traits, and inspire us with a 
vivid admiration and appreciation of them.”* In 
all such cases, when one is confronted with moral 
evidence, there is a probation of character. 


1Tbid., page 8, 


ee ae na, ee 


CHAPTER II 


WHAT IS MEANT BY MIRACLES? THE POSSIBILITY OF THEM, 
AND THE POSSIBILITY OF PROVING THEM. 


The most common objection both to the genuine- 
ness and the credibility of the New Testament his- 
tories is from the accounts of miracles, which they 
contain. It is expedient, .at the outset, to consider 
what weight belongs to this objection, and also to de- 
termine what place should be assigned to miracles 
among the proofs of revelation. 

What is a miracle? A miracle is an event which 
Definition of the forces of nature—including the nat- 
amiracie. ural powers of man—cannot of themselves 
produce, and which must, therefore, be referred to 
a supernatural agency. Or, in the briefer phrase of 
Pascal, a miracle is an event exceeding the natural 
power of the means employed. If the event is of 
such a character, or takes place under such circum- 
stances, as to exclude the supposition of a superhu- 
man created agent as its cause, then it must be in- 
ferred that God isits author. Itshould be added, to 
complete the idea of a miracle, that it is something 
manifest—something that can be known and appre- 


10 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


hended by men. There is a course of nature—a 
natural order —the same antecedents being followed 
by the same consequents. This order of succession 
we call the uniformity of nature. It enables us, on 
the ground of previous observation, to predict what 
will occur. In an atmosphere of 32° Fahrenheit 
water will freeze. In a warmer atmosphere it will 
remain fluid. A body of less specific gravity than 
the air will rise; a body of greater specific grav- 
ity than the air will fall. A deviation in any in- 
stance from this order of sequences is what is 
meant by a miracle. But to fill out the ordinary 
signification of the word, the fact must occur in con- 
nection with religious teaching, or as a verification 
of the claim of a religious teacher to a divine com- 
New Testa. mission. In the New Testament, three 
ment terms. terms are used to denote miracles. They 
are called “wonders,” primarily in reference to 
the astonishment which they produce; ‘ powers,” 
as related to the divine energy to which they are 
due; and “signs,” or tokens of God’s presence and 
of the sanction thus afforded to the teacher or to 
what is taught. * 


It is contended by some that a miracle is impos- 
sible; by others that, even if it be not impossible, 
it can never be proved. 


1 For example: ‘‘Signs and wonders” (John iv. 48); ‘‘ powers” 
(Matt. xi. 20, Revised Version, inthe margin). The rendering of the 
original word (found in Matt. xi. 20, etc.) is usually ‘‘ mighty works.” 


POSSIBILITY OF MIRACLES. Aig 


1. It is said that an event not produced by nat- 
ural laws would be an event without a cause. But 
pene © what is natural law? By natural law is 
withouta simply meant the method of the action of 
"ek natural forces. Laws are another name 
for the established sequences—that is, the custom- 
ary succession—of natural phenomena. When a 
miracle occurs, & new cause intervenes—viz., & spe- 
cial exertion of divine power, the power of the 
Creator and Upholder of nature. There is not 
even a violation of natural laws, in the proper 
sense of the phrase ; for every statement of natural 
law, and every prediction of what is to occur un- 
der it, are made with the proviso, or on the tacit 
supposition, that there is to be no intervention of a 
supernatural agent. A miracle nowise contradicts 
the axiom that in nature the same causes, under the 
same circumstances, are followed by the same ef- 
fects. In the case of a miracle, the effect is differ- 
ent because the causes are not the same. The va- 
riation in the effect is what must take place, sup- 
posing such an alteration of the antecedents. Ifa 
new cause comes in, it is irrational to look for the 
same effect as before. 

As we pass from one kingdom of nature to an- 
other, we find that higher forces control the action 
of lower, so that new effects are produced which 
could not otherwise occur. Inorganic nature in 
this way is subject to vital forces. The force of 


12 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


gravitation, for example, gives way under the ac. 
tion of a superior agency of another kind. Ont 

of the seed rises the stalk of the plant. 
Forces oyver- P 
come by forees If we had no knowledge of organic nat- 

ure, we might be led to deny the pos- 
sibility of such a fact as the movement upward 
of a growing tree, despite the force of gravita- 
tion. 

The human will affords the most striking illus- 
tration of the possibility of a miracle. The will, as 
Thenuman 2eleted to material forces, is a distinct and 
will, super- higher power, and as thus related is super- 
: natural. Jt initiates movements in the 
realm of nature. It produces results—countless in 
number and variety—which would not have come 
into being independently of its action. Whena boy 
throws a ball into the air, gravitation is overcome 
by forces set in motion by a human volition. Who- 
ever bakes a loaf of bread brings into being a thing 
which the bare forces of nature, not controlled and 
assisted by man’s will, could not have produced. 
In this way human will-power creates all that goes 
under the comprehensive name of art. From the 
least motion of a finger, in obedience to volition, to 
the most complex contrivances of mechanical genius, 
trom the building of a wigwam to the erection of a 
Gothie cathedral, from the management of a vil- 
lage-school to the leading of armies and the govern- 
ment of nations—in a word, wherever the effects of 


a a ee 


POSSIBILITY OF MIRACLES. 13 


human will appear, there are beheld phenomena 
which the laws of nature—apart from the guidance, 
combination, and control of them by man’s will— 
could never have brought into being. A miracle, 
where there is an interposition of the divine will, is 
not anti-natural, but super-natural., 

2-2. But it is objected that the invariability of nat- 
ure—when the human will with its range of activ- 
The uniform. ities is included—is a truth which it is 
ity ofnature. absurd to call in question. This objec- 
tion assumes that the uniformity of nature is in- 
tuitively known, is a necessary truth, and stands 
thus on a level with mathematical axioms. No 
sound philosopher will make such an assertion. 
Our belief that the course of things is uniform is 
based on observation and experience, coupled with 
an instinctive confidence in the indications—indicia 
—of nature, like the trust which we put in the signs 
of thought when we are in communication with 
human beings. A child who has once burned his 
finger in the flame, knows that if he makes a second 
experiment of the same sort, the same result will 
occur. We naturally assume that nature is an or- 
derly system, that it is conformed to a plan, and is 
not made to deceive us. Our belief in the uni- 
formity of nature justifies a presumption that there 
will be (and has been) no departure from it. This 
presumption, however, may be overruled and set 
aside, wherever reasons exist which would make it 


14 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


wise in the Author and Ruler of Nature to inter. 
vene. 

3. It is objected that a miracle would be a con- 
travention by God of the laws of nature which He 
Miracleana 2S himself established. Even were it 
natural law. so, the laws of nature are not moral laws. 
An interference with them would not involve in 
itself any moral wrong. The foregoing remarks 
show how one class of natural forces may counter- 
act and govern the action of another, or the results 
to be produced by that action. Moreover, Natural 
Theology teaches that natural laws do not exist for 
their own sake. The end of material nature is not 
in itself. A “Jaw” is merely a name for the way 
in which things ordinarily occur. On the supposi- 
tion that a higher good is to be secured by a devi- 
ation from the course of nature, there is no moral 
objection to such an act on the part of God. IE this 
objection had any weight, it would tend to prove 
not the natural, but only the moral impossibility of 
miracles. . But the objection is stripped of its plau- 
sibility the moment one admits that there is a moral _ 
government of the world as well as an ad ministering 
of physical laws. Nature is not a thing by itself. 
It is only one province in the whole divine system. 
The motives that dictate the establishment and 
maintenance of the course of nature may require 
that it should not be absolutely without interrnp- 
tion. 


MIRACLES CAPABLE OF PROOF. 15 


4. Hume made a celebrated argument against 
the possibility of proving miracles by testimony, 
although the same argument had long be- 
fore been stated and answered in one of 
South’s sermons.’ Our belief in the uniformity of 
nature, Hume said, rests on experience. Our belief 
in testimony hasthe same foundation. But the ex- 
perience of the uniformity of nature is without any 
exception ; whereas, we have had experience of the 
error of human testimony. Hence he concluded 
that no amount of testimony could prove a mir- 
acle; for, if we suppose the amount of evidence of 
this sort to be never so great, still the supposi- 
tion of its falsehood would imply at most nothing 
greater than a miracle, and so we should have a 
miracle to balance a miracle. 

Hume’s argument involves several mistakes and 
fallacies. Our belief in testimony does not grow 
out of experience, althongh as the result 
of experience it is regulated. Nor does 
our belief in the uniformity of nature spring exclu- 
sively or ultimately from this source. On Hume's 
philosophy no reason can be assigned for expecting 
the course of nature to remain unaltered. Why 
should the future be, and the past have been, con- 
formed to what we observe at present? We grant, 
however, that there is a rational presumption in 
favor of the uniformity of nature, and against the 


Hume’s argu- 
ment. 


Its fallacies. 


1 South’s Sermon on The Certainty of our Saviour’s Resurrection. 


16 CHRISTIAN HBVIDENCES. 


occurrence of a miracle. The very word “ miracle,” | 
pointing to the wonder excited by such an event, — 
implies a counter-expectation. But when Hume 
assumes that experience is uniform against the oc- 
currence of miracles, he begs the question. The — 
evidence for the unbroken uniformity of nature, as _ 
J. S. Mill has correctly stated, is diminished in a 


force by whatever weight belongs to the evidence \ : 
that certain miracles have taken place." Hume ~ 


separates a miracle from every conceivable object. 


He looks at it as a perfectly isolated occurrence— 


a bare marvel. His fundamental error consists in ~ 


arguing the question on the tacit assumption of e 


atheism. He ignores the existence of a cause ade- 
quate to work miracles, and, of course, the exist-— 
ence of any motive or occasion for them to be ~ 
wrought. If the righteous God, whose existence 
and attributes are verified in Natural Theology, 
could be deemed as likely to subvert the laws which — 
justify belief in human testimony, as—for example — 
—to heal a man born blind, in order to furnish a — 
sign and proof that salvation has been provided — 
from spiritual darkness and sin, Hume’s reasoning 4 
would be more plausible. In other words, he virt- a 
ually takes it for granted that one miracle—a mir- — 
acle for a purpose of deception—is as much to be 
expected as another miracle, wrought for a worthy — 
and merciful end. All that Hume has made out, — 
1 Mill’s System of Logic, vol. ii., p. 185. 


Be, 


MIRACLES CAPABLE OF PROOF. Kz 


as Mill explains, is that no evidence can prove a 
‘miracle to an atheist, or to a deist who supposes 

himself able to prove that God would not 
Bios nie interfere to produce the miraculous event 
= in question. Mill adds truly “that nat- 
ural religion is the necessary basis of revealed ; that 
the proofs of Christianity presuppose the being and 
moral attributes of God; that it is the conformity 
of a religion to those attributes which determines 
_whether credence ought be given to its external 
evidences.” 

Professor Huxley, in his comments on Hume, 
objects to Hume’s definition of a miracle as a vio- 
ree lation of the laws of nature, ‘* because all 
pion: we know of the order of nature is derived 
from an observation of the course of events of 
which the so-called miracle is a part.”* He ad- 
mits that an event of this character is capable of 
being proved by testimony ; but he appears to think 
that, if thus established, it would be an occurrence 

under the laws of nature, and would be referable to 
natural causes. This explanation, however, in many 
conceivable cases, would be irrational. Ifa man is 
known to be dead and is awakened to life at the 
command of another, the effect could not be re- 
ferred to natural causes. If it could, a superhuman 
knowledge of natural causes would have to be as- 


1 Mill’s System of Logic, vol. ii., p. 186. 
2 Huxley’s Hume, p. 181. 
2 


eo ae 


18 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


cribed to him who gave the command, and this 


would involve miracle. The coincidence of the oc-- 


Miracle currence with the word or act of a person 
proves desi. << yroves design in the marvel, and makes 
it a miracle; and if that person pr ofeasne to report 
a message or revelation from heaven, the coinci- 


dence again of the miracle with the professed mes- 


sage of God proves design on the part of God to 
warrant and authorize the message.” That is to 
say, the occurrence of the marvel at the moment 
when the man is bidden to arise cannot be a mere 
coincidence. 

5. The question is sometimes asked, How can we 
be certain that an effect which exceeds the power of 
eae natural causes, does not spring from the 
Syvom ody ea enby of a superhuman evil being? 

There are certain miracles, such, in par- 
ticular, as imply the exertion of creative power, 
which it appears unreasonable to attribute to any 
created being. But, apart from this consideration, 
there may be collateral proof—moral evidence— 
that shows the miracle to be the work of no evil 
being, and of no other being than God. It is to 


such evidence that, according to the Gospel narra- 


tive, Jesus appeals in answer to the allegation that 
his miracles were wrought by the help of evil 
spirits.’ 

1 Matt. xii. 25, 26; Mark xiii. 23, 24; Luke xi. 17, 18. 


SES ee ee 


FUNCTION OF MIRACLES. 19 


What is the distinctive office and place of mir- 
acles among the evidences of Revelation? Jn the 
first place, it is plain that Revelation, as distin- 
Proottmom guished from the manifestation of God in 
miracles and the course of nature and the ordinary do- 

ings of Providence, is in its very idea mi- 
raculous. It isa more direct disclosure of God than 
is elsewhere afforded. This fact of the presence and 
more immediate agency of God in connection with 
religious doctrine is signified to the senses by works 
of supernatural power. These works corroborate 
the evidence furnished by the doctrine itself, and 
by all the proofs of a moral nature that attend the 
promulgation of it. Miracles are aids to faith. 
They come in with decisive effect to convince those 
who are impressed by the moral evidence that they 
are not deceived, and that God is in reality speak- 
ing through men. According to the New Testa- 
ment histories it was in this light that miracles 
were regarded by Jesus. Where there was no spir- 
itual preparation, no dawning faith, he refused to 
perform miracles. He set the highest value upon 
the moral proofs.’ Yet he considered the miracles 
to be of use in proving himself to be the messenger 
of God and to have power committed to him to 
forgive sin.” 

1 John xiv. 11. } 

2 Matt. ix. 6; Mark ii. 10; Luke ix. 24, 


20 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


d 
. 
Thus it appears that while the doctrine proves . 
the miracles the miracles prove the doctrine. They 


Meade are two mutually supporting species of 


port of doc. proof. They are both parts of one mani- 
oe festation of God, neither of which is to 


be relied upon to the exclusion of the other, as if 
the other were of no value. 


CHAPTER III. 


HOW THE ANTECEDENT PRESUMPTION AGAINST THE OCCUR- 
RENCE OF MIRACLES IS SET ASIDE, 


By a presumption is meant such a previous like- 
lihood that a given statement is true or false as 
oe justly predisposes one to believe or to re- 
eereume- ject it. On the ground of some prin- 

ciple, or prior conviction, which is based 
on evidence, we bring to the consideration of a ques- 
tion a favorable or an adverse pre-judgment. This 
may have different degrees of strength, varying with 
the character of the evidence on which it rests. If 
we hear that one known to be a miser has made 
a large gift to the poor, or that one known to be 
a generous philanthropist has refused to relieve a 
worthy person who was in distress, there is a pre- 
sumption in each case that the report is false. What 
gives rise to the presumption against the truth of the 
proposition that a miracle has occurred is the known 
fact of the uniformity of nature and the obvious 
benefit of such an arrangement. On the ground of 
this faith in an established course of nature, we feel 
justified in passing over, without credence, and even 


DY, CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


without inquiry, stories of miracles which are met 
with in historians whose records of ordinary occur- 
rences we have no hesitation in believing. We give 
credit to what Tacitus relates about the wars of 
Vespasian, but when he tells the story of the heal- 
ing of a blind man by that Emperor, we smile at 
the tale, or at most try to conjecture in what way 
the erroneous report had arisen. To set aside this 
presumption against the miraculous, it is requisite 
that we should discern the need of a Revelation and 
appreciate in some degree the intrinsic excellence 
of the Christian system. Then the way will be 
open to examine the evidence which shows that the 
miracles recorded in the New Testament were actu- 
ally wrought. 

“JT deem it unnecessary to prove,” says Paley, 
“that mankind stood in need of a revelation, be- 
Anteseacn, couse I have met with no serious person 
probability of who thinks that, even under the Chris- 

tian revelation, we have too much light, 
or any degree of persuasion which is superfluous.” 
The anterior probability that a revelation will be 
given lies in the necessitous condition of man and 
the benevolent character of God. 

‘There is no interest of man so important as re- 
ligion. It is vitally connected with his obligations 
and his destiny. In relation to this subject there 
are four principal sources of anxiety and distress. 
The first is the vagueness and uncertainty of man’s 


THE NEED OF REVELATION. 2s 


knowledge, under the light of nature, of God and 
divine things. The question is not what is theoret- 
ically possible to be ascertained on these 
The need of : 
revelation. themes, or what the extent of the native 


Four points: 


a phe need power of reason is, but rather what man, 

in his present condition and character, act- 
ually does discover or can be expected to discover. 
We find that there is neither absolute ignorance and 
a satisfied state of ignorance, nor is there such a 
vividness and certainty of conviction as give rest 
to the mind and furnish an adequate incentive to 
right conduct. Man “feels after God,” gropes in 
the dark as for an object of which he knows some- 
thing, but which he cannot find and grasp. We 
perceive that men oscillate between gross super- 
stition and a dismal unbelief. On the question 
of the immortality of the soul there is a like uncer- 
tainty, a mixture of hope and doubt. This was 
the position of a man so virtuous and elevated as 
Socrates. 


There is, besides, a sense of unworthiness which 


haunts the mind and often becomes an oppressive 
9, Theguit burden. There is a sense of guilt which 


of sin. 


reveals itself in the rites of the religions of 
the heathen nations. It is the consciousness of be- 
ing unreconciled to the Power on whom we depend 
and to whom a more or less distinct feeling of re- 


sponsibility prevails among mankind. 


Moreover, there is a feeling of discontent and 


24 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


helplessness under the dominion which evil has ac. — 
quired in the heart. There is a bondage of habit 
3 ‘The bona. Wich often gives rise to an ineffectual — 
age otsin. struggle and to a craving for supernatural 
help. A heathen poet expresses the sense of this 
slavery, when he says: “I see and approve what is 
good; I do what is evil.” 


“Video meliora proboque ; 
Deteriora sequor.”—Ovip. 


Even Byron speaks of i 


‘‘ This uneradicable taint of sin, . 
This boundless upas, this all-blasting tree—” 


In addition to these necessities of the soul, there — 
is the need, under the sufferings of life, of sources q 
ei of strength, such as the light of nature — 
of painand does not afford. Relief under afflictions, 
ayes peace in sorrow, salvation from despond- 
ency, are wants which are deeply felt. 7 

We cannot dwell on these great facts respecting. 
mankind. No one who interrogates his own con- 
science, and looks abroad on the world and over the 
field of history, can fail to be impressed by them. _ 

While there is a great need of man to be sup- — 
plied, a need which experience proves that he 
The benevo. Cannot himself supply through his own 
tence of God. unaided powers, there are, likewise, in- — 
dications in nature of the benevolence of God 3 


_ the truths of 
natural re- 


WHAT CHRISTIANITY DOHKS. 25 


This character is brought to light in the teach- 
ings of Natural Theology. Even heathen writers 
—for example, Plutarch—have written on the De- 
lay of God in punishing the wicked, and have in- 
ferred His compassion and desire to save the un- 
worthy. | 

The way in which Christianity meets the deep 
wants of human nature which have been briefly de- 
Be i scribed, is one strong proof of its divine 
ihe. Origan.* It forms an important portion 

of the internal evidence of the truth of 
the Gospel, and of its being a revelation from God. 
But in this place, where we are only considering 
whether there is a probability that miracles will 
occur—such a probability as sets aside the contrary 
presumption—we can only call attention to features 
of the Christian system which everybody must ac- 
knowledge to exist. 

1. Christianity sets forth the main truths of nat- 
ural religion in a clear and vivid form. The being 
of God, his moral and providential gov- 
ernment, man’s accountableness, the fut- 
ure life, are taught, and are taught so 
impressively that, as a matter of fact, multitudes of 
men have been persuaded of their truth, and have 
been moved to cast aside heathen superstitions, as 
well as skepticism and disbelief. : 

2. Christianity does not hide or extennate the 
evil which has been depicted above. It brings out 


It sets forth 


ligion. 


26 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


with emphasis the sin and guilt of men, and what- 
ever is distressing in their lot, including their mor- 
seicbenines bality. In short, Christianity recognizes 
the malady. the full extent of the malady and pro. 
fesses to grapple with it. 

3, Christianity makes definite provisions to meet 

the great wants which have been specified, viz., the 
Romediespro. Vegueness of our knowledge of God, the 
paced. stings of conscience, the need of fresh 
incentives, and of spiritual aid from without, for 
the conflict with evil habit within the soul, and to 
lighten the burdens of sorrow and affliction. 

Not only does Christianity undertake thus to 
bring men to a true knowledge of God and fellow- 
ship with Him, but history shows that, in Innumer- 
able instances, this result has been effected. Strength 
to bear the heaviest troubles has been gained, to- 
gether with peace and the light of hope in the pres- 
ence of death. 

The moral precepts of Christianity are conformed 
to the dictates of conscience. These precepts, as 
whe ethics of £2" 88 they relate to our relations to one 
Christianity. another, may be comprised under the 
heads of veracity, purity, kindness. Sincerity in 
speech and conduct, chastity in thought and be- 
havior, benevolence, sympathy, charitableness in 
judgment and action, are the leading injunctions of 
the Gospel. 

The history of Christianity proves that the prac- 


WHAT CHRISTIANITY DOES. ig 


tice of these virtues is facilitated, and the conquest 
over the opposite vices is achieved, by means of 
the faith and hope of the Gospel. In other words, 
the religion of the Gospel, entering into 
Connection of Peat A 
Bend tor. the convictions and experience of the 
soul, is a most effective instrument of 
moral reform. The legitimate result of Chris- 
|tianity, it is not too much to say, is ‘a new crea- 
tion” of spiritual and ethical character. 

These considerations are sufficient to neutralize 
the presumption against miracles in connection 
with Christianity and to place them on the same 
level, as regards proof, with matters of fact where 
no miracle is involved. For, if the miracles were 
‘subtracted, its distinctive character as a direct ap- 
proach of God to man would be lost, an essential 
side of the evidence of its truth would vanish, and 
its practical efficacy would be to a great extent par- 
alyzed. In judging of Christianity, it is desirable 
to remember, as Paley observes, that “ the question 
lies between this religion and none; for, if the 
Christian religion be not credible, no one with 
whom we have to do will support the pretensions 
of any other ”__certainly not the pretensions of any 
other to a supernatural origin and a miraculous at- 
- testation. 


CHAPTER IV. 


ADMITTED FACTS RESPECTING CHRISTIANITY. 


Before proceeding further, it is well to remind 
the reader how much there is in Christianity that | 
is not a subject of dispute. Let us glance at some 
of the admitted facts. Christianity originated in 
the short ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. This | 
ministry was preceded by the preaching of John | 
the Baptist, to whose preaching and the effect of it | 
the Jewish historian, Josephus, refers.’ Jesus se- | 
te fel lected and trained a small company of 
the life of Je- disciples, who, like himself, were of a 
ae humble rank in life. He taught not 
longer than about three years, from place to place, | 
in Palestine. He was condemned by the Jewish | 
Sanhedrim, and was put to death under Pontius | 
Pilate, the Roman Procurator in Judea. The re-. 
ligion of the Jews, among whom he was born and | 
grew up, was a pure form of monotheism. | 


The Jewish : ; : 
sobe208 In it was involved an expectation of a 


universal divine kingdom, of which the “ Messiah” — 
was to be the head. Jesus professed to be the ex-— 


1 Antiq., xviil. v. 2. 


ADMITTED FACTS. 29 


pected Messiah, and on this account he was put to 
death. His teachings and his life had made a 

powerful impression. Soon after his death his 
Hisallegea Chosen followers testified that he had 
resurrection. yisen, and manifested himself to them. 
This alleged fact they proclaimed, and submitted 
to great sufferings, and. some of them to a cruel 
‘death, on account of their faith and of the testi- 
mony which they gave respecting Jesus. A few 
theconver. Years after the death of Jesus, Saul of 
psion. of Paul. "Tarsus, who had been active in persecut- 
ing his followers, was converted to the Christian 
faith, and became an untiring and zealous preacher 
of it. In the face of persecution from Jews and 
heathen, and without the advantage of support from 
the igarned, the rich, or any other of the influential 
Fopia spreaa C/asses, the new religion rapidly spread in 
oftheGospel. the cities of the Roman Empire. The 
Roman historian, Tacitus, informs us that in the 
‘time of Nero, the Christians who were tortured 
‘and killed by that tyrant formed “a great multi- 
‘tude.”? This was in 64 a.p. The younger Pliny, 
Propreetor in Pontus and Bithynia, under Trajan, re- 
ports to the Emperor, in 111 «.p., that the number 
of Christians in that region was so large that the 
heathen altars had been well-nigh deserted, and 
there had been no market for the sale of animals 
for sacrifice. The Gospel continued to make 


— Aninal, xv. 44. 2 Plin., Hp. 97. 


389 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


progress, in spite of legal measures of persecution 
and the violence of mobs, and notwithstanding that 
more than one able Emperor engaged with energy | 
in systematic efforts to exterminate its disciples. At | 
length the Emperor himself, Constantine, became | 
a convert, and (a.p. 818) proclaimed toleration. 
The old heathen religion of the Greco-Roman 
world disappeared. The new barbarian nations 
which subverted Rome embraced Christianity. It 
is the religion of the most powerful nations, whom - 
it did so much to train and civilize. It is now pro- 
fessed by nearly a third of the world’s population. 

Christians were united together from the begin- 
ning in forms of organization. The Church grew 
whe Church UP» and, under varying forms of polity 
and its rites. and modes of worship, has perpetuated 
itself until the present day. Certain rites, such as 
Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the observance of 
Sunday, have been continued’ since the days of the’ 
Apostles. Numberless productions — theological, 
devotional, or otherwise practical—have emanated | 
from Christian teachers, or from other Christian 
disciples in successive ages. 

It is allowed that the influence of Christianity 
has not been superficial, but of a profound, trans- 
Seat forming character upon the individual 
of Christian. and upon society. It has deeply affected 

art, literature, and laws, the sentiments 
and conduct of mankind. Whatever evil has been 


ADMITTED FACTS. Dl 


done in the name of the Christian religion, is due, 
as is generally conceded, not to that religion itself, 
but to the perversion and corruption of it. With 
the possible exception of a few eccentric individ- 
uals, it is universally judged that the influence of 
Christianity upon human nature and upon civiliza- 
tion is altogether elevating and wholesome. 

These bare outlines may serve to remind the 
reader how grand a phenomenon Christianity is in 
the history of the world. The question which we 
have to consider is whether the New Testament 
| The question Listories give the true account of its ori- 
_musthemet. oin, Jt will not do to dispose of this 
question by vague remarks on human credulity and 
the possibilities of self-deception and imposture. 
“To put aside the question of its origin”—of the 
origin of the Christian religion—“ by telling us that 
mankind are easily deceived, is much the same as it 
would be to put aside the question about the origin 
of the Gulf Stream by telling us that water is an 
element very easily moved in different directions.” ' 


1 Hopkins’s Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity. 


CHAPTER V. 


PROOF OF THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY FROM 
THE PORTRAITURE OF THE CHARACTER OF JESUS IN THE 
EVANGELISTS. 


The character of Jesus as it is depicted in the 
Evangelists is one of unequalled excellence. This 
is universally admitted. It is not a character made 
up of negative virtues alone, where the sole merit 
is the absence of culpable traits. It has 


Combination 


of virtues. positive, strongly marked features. It 


combines piety, an absorbing love and loyalty to 
God, with philanthropy—a love to men without any 
alloy of selfishness, and too strong to be conquered 
by their injustice and ingratitude. It unites thus, in 
perfect harmony, the qualities of the saint and of the 
philanthropist. It blends holiness with compassion 
and gentleness. ‘There is no compromise with evil, 


no consent to the least wrong-doing, even in a friend . 


or follower. But with this purity there is a deep 
well of tenderness, a spirit of forgiveness which 
never fails. With the active virtues, with an in- 
trepidity that quails before none, however high in 
station and public esteem, there are connected the 


a 

: 
yp 
2 
2 


THE CHARACTER OF JESUS. oo 


passive virtues of patience, forbearance, meekness. 
The world beholds in Jesus its ideal of goodness.’ 

_ Now, there are conclusive reasons for affirming 
that this character is not the product of the imag- 
ination of the Evangelists. It is an omgzunal charac- 
| i. ter, and one which those who describe it 
ttre of Jesus | could never have invented. In the first 
7 place, it stands out in bold relief and in 
obvious contrast with the impersections of those to 
whom we owe the portrait of it. With no model 
in actual life to follow, how could the fishermen 
of Galilee put on the canvas this figure—the cen- 
tral figure in the world’s history? In the second 
_ place, it is not a character which is formally delin- 
-eated. Itis not set forth in a string of epithets, 
or abstract statements, or by vague, indiscriminate 
laudation. The impression which we gain of the 
‘character of Jesus is from a large collection of in- 
cidents and of sayings recorded in the Gospels. 
Our idea of him is the effect of a great variety of 


1 Speculative opinions not accordant with the faith of the Church 
have not availed to prevent candid minds from clearly discerning this 
fact. ‘‘It was reserved for Christianity to present to the world an 
| ideal character, which through all the changes of eighteen centuries 
has inspired the hearts of men with an impassioned love, has shown 
_ itself capable of acting on all nations, ages, temperaments, and condi- 
_ tions, has been not only the highest pattern of virtue but the strong- 
_ est incentive to its practice, and has exercised so deep an influence 
_ that it may be truly said that the simple record of three short years 
- of active life has done more to regenerate and soften mankind than 

all the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of moral- 
_ ists.”—Lecky’s History of European Morals, vol. ii., p. 9. 

a s 3) 


34 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


facts. To the production of such an effect by such 


means, the writers, had they drawn upon their own 
imagination, or that of others, would have been 


manifestly incompetent. Finally, the character of | 


Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospels, has an unmis- 
takable air of reality. 


We may go forward with safety a step farther. — 
Jesus, as we become acquainted with him in the | 


Gospel narratives, which are to this ex- 
Perfection of 


the character tent self-verifying, was literally a sinless — 
person. We have here a character of | 


of Jesus. 


immaculate purity. This, to be sure, is a point 
which cannot be demonstrated, since no one can 
discern the motives of action; but it can be estab- 
lished beyond reasonable doubt. In all that is re- 
corded of him, there is no evidence of moral fault. 


There is nothing that he did or said which can | 
justly be made a ground of reproach. It is incred- 
ible that the Evangelists, even on the supposition | 
of a plan on their part to make him out to be better | 
than he was, could have selected their materials—_ 
putting in this, and leaving out that—in such a way — 
as to accomplish the purpose. The task would have , 
been too great for their powers. It would imply — 
not only a perfect ideal in their minds, but, also, an _ 
impossible skill in realizing it in a narrative form. © 
Moreover, while Jesus was obviously holy | 
ie se beyond all example, and had the clearest, | 


No self-re- 


inost penetrating discernn.ynt of moral evil, and 


THE SINLESSNESS OF JESUS. 35 


while he condemned even the least wrong in the 


inmost thoughts and intents of the soul, there is 
not a trace of self-reproach on his part. Jad he 
anywhere, even in his prayers to God, implied that 
he was guilty of fault, some record of his self- 
accusation would have been left. It would have 


- found its way into the traditions concerning him. 


~ When his cause was prostrate, and nothing but an 


ignominious death awaited him, in the hours of 
anguish some expression implying penitence would 
have escaped him. Not only is there no trace of 
such a feeling on his part, but it will scarcely be 
denied that he made on his followers, who were in- 
timately associated with him, the impression that 
he was absolutely free from moral fault. 

Those who are convinced that Jesus was without 
sin may find in the fact a cogent argument for the 


The perfec. SUpernatural origin of Christianity. In 


tio of Jesus the first place, there is no reason to think. 


a miraculous 


eg that any other faultless and perfect char- 
acter has ever existed among men. Jesus is thus 


“an exception to a universal fact respecting the 


race. To account for this exception, to explain 
this one instance of spotless purity, it is reasonable 
to assume an extraordinary relation to God on his 


_ part—to assume something that is equivalent to a 


miracle. In the second place, his sinlessness gives 
credibility to his testimony respecting himself. 


That he claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah, 


36 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


is beyond all dispute. On this charge he was ecru- | 
cified. It will not be questioned that the position 

which he claimed, and persisted in claim- | 
The safeguard , ° 
against self. Ng, WAS of an exceptional and exalted | 

kind. It will not be questioned that he | 
considered himself the spiritual guide and deliv- | 
erer of mankind. To acquit him of an unheard-— 
of arrogance and self-deception we must give credit — 
to his judgment and testimony concerning him- | 
self. If we discredit this judgment and testimony — 
we must conclude that perfect moral purity, and | 
humility withal, are consistent with a self-exaltation | 
alike baseless and really without a parallel in the | 
extent to which it was carried. We must ascribe | 
to him an enormous self-delusion. We must con- 
clude of the only pure and perfect one that the 
light that was in him was “ darkness.” 


CHAPTER VI. 


PROOF O2 THE MIRACLES FROM PECULIAR FEATURES OF THE 
GOSPEL NARRATIVES. 


No one doubts that the Gospels contain a great 


deal that is true about the life and teaching of 
Christ. These books are the almost exclusive 
_ source from which the world derives its knowledge 


of what he did and suffered and of what he said. 


Such writers as Strauss and Rénan, who disbelieve 


in the miracles, construct biographies of Jesus out 
of the materials furnished them in the Gospels. 
~ Now, before inquiring into the date and author- 


‘ship of these four histories, we can find in what 


true in them, convincing proof that miracles were 
wrought by Jesus. 


ue 


all candid students must concede to be historically 


1. On different occasions Jesus is said to have 
| told those whom he miraculously healed 
The prohibi- ° . 1 
tions to report not to make it publicly known.’ He 
miracles, ? i 
wished to avoid a public excitement hav- 


ing little or no kinship with moral and spiritual 


5 


* Matt. ix. 30, xii. 16, xvii. 9; Mark iii. 12, v. 43; Luke v. 14, viii 


56, ete. 


Lah 


38 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. . ! 


feeling. Sometimes he had to retire to solitary 


places to avoid the multitude. No one can reason- © 


ably question that these injunctions not to report 
miracles were uttered by him. ‘There is no motive 
that could account for the invention of them, espe- 
cially since it is added that they were disregarded. 
2. Cautions, which are plainly authentic, against 


an excessive esteem of miracles, are said to have | 


been uttered by Jesus." No one who 


Miracles not 


overvalued. made up stories of miracles would con-_ 
nect with his accounts a disparagement of them, or — 


anything that looked like it. The imaginative, 
wonder-loving spirit, which prompts to the invention 


of fictitious miracles, always magnifies their impor- | 
tance. The disciples, when they rejoiced that they | 
had been able to deliver demoniacs, were told not — 
to rejoice that the spirits were subject to them, but 
rather to rejoice that they could look forward to an_ 


abode in heaven.” 


3. There are sayings of Christ which are evidently. 
genuine, but which are inseparable from the mira- 
cles with which they are connected in the 
inkeate record. Thus, John the Baptist, when he . 
was in prison, sent two of his disciples to” 
Jesus to inquire if he were in truth the Messiah or 
only a forerunner.’ This inquiry implies a momen-_ 
tary doubt in the mind of John, owing, it is to be. 


Teaching 
and miracles 


gether. 


1 John iv. 48, xiv. 11; Matt. xvi. 8; Luke x, 17. 2 Luke x. 2Q — 


3 Matt. xi. 4; Luke xvii. 22. =| 


INCIDENTAL PROOF OF MIRACLES. 39 


presumed, to the fact that no grand demonstration 
of the power of Christ had been made, no visible 
establishment of a kingdom. Perhaps the gloom of 
a prison may have had its influence in exciting this 
transient doubt. But such a doubt in the mind of 
the prophet, of him whose testimony to Jesus was 
counted of so much value, no disciple of Jesus would 
have wished to occur. No one would think of falsely 
attributing it to John. The messengers were directed 
to go back to John and to tell him what they had 
seen and heard: “The blind receive their sight, and 
the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf 
hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the 
Gospel preached to them.” This answer of Jesus is 
part and parcel of the incident. It is inseparable 
from the question. And the incident proves that 
Jesus was engaged in working the miracles of which 
mention is made. 

Among the controversies of Jesus with over-rigid 
observers of the sabbath, there is one in which he is 
said to have put the question: “Which of you shall 
have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not 
straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?”!? 
‘These words are in a style characteristic of Jesus. 
Few, if any, doubt that he uttered them. Now, Luke 
says that the occasion of the question was a reproach 
from the Pharisees for healing a man of the dropsy. 
The words obviously imply that it was a case where 


1 Luke xiv. 5. 


40) CHRISTIAN EHVIDENCES. 


some one who was in extreme danger had been res« 
cued. How can it be doubted that Jesus had really, 
as the Evangelist relates, healed a man of a danger- 
ous disease on the sabbath day @ : 

Other similar instances might be adduced. One 
who studies the Gospels will see that the teachings 
of Jesus presuppose the miracles which are recorded 
in conjunction with his reported words having refer- 
ence to them. 

The Evangelists ascribe to Jesus no miracles prior 
to his baptism. This is one striking difference be- 
No miracles tween them and the apoci cone Gospels. 
Pption ue Lf the record of miracles by the Evangelists 
ape is not true, if they are creations of fancy 
or invention, why do they not commence earlier ? | 
Why are not miracles ascribed to Jesus before h Le 
reached the age of thirty? Why is this long pening | 
left a blank ? t 

‘Moreover, no miracles are attributed to John thal . 
Baptist, notwithstanding that so much value is at-— 
Nomimactes 'tched in the Gospels to his testimony to | 
ae Jesus. If there had been a dispositior & 

to make up stories of miracles that did 
not occur, why is not John credited with works of a_ 
like nature ? | 


CHAPTER VIL. 


PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FROM sTATHENTS 
BY THE APOSTLE PAUL. 

There are four Epistles which no competent scholar 
doubts that the Apostle Paul wrote. The most 
noted schools of modern skeptics have with one ac- 
cord accepted them as genuine. They are the two 
Epistles to the Corinthians, and the Epistles to the 
Romans and Galatians. In his first Epistle to the 
Corinthians, Paul refers to the proofs of the res- 
urrection of Jesus. In this important passage we 
are told what he had learned from the other 
Apostles on this subject. In the Epistle to the 
Galatians he speaks of his intercourse with them 
The acquaint. OD different occasions. Three years after 
are eau, His conversion, he had spent a fortnight 
Aposties, -_-with Peter at Jerusalem (Gal. i. 18). At 
that time he had met James, the Lord’s brother. 
Later (a.p. 52), he met Peter, James, and John, and 
conferred with them on the Gospel (Gal. ii. 1-10), 
He had enjoyed ample opportunities to ascertain 
what the Apostles had to say about the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus; that he would avail himself of these 


Ne OHRISTIAN HVIDENCES. 


thaye did so, what he tells us on the subject proves. 
what he b. Writing to the Corinthians, he sets down 
learned from SVistinctly what he had previously de- 
Y clared to them respecting the Saviour’s 
reapp@rance from the dead.’ On the third day 
after his burial, Jesus appeared to Peter. After- 
Walls he appeared to the twelve; then to above five 
-fundred brethren assembled together; then to 
James; then to all the Apostles. Last of all, he 
had manifested himself alive to Paul himself at 
the time of his conversion; for to this event he 
undoubtedly refers. Even without the records of 
the Evangelists, it is sate to conclude, from these 
statements in the Epistle to the Corinthians, that 
the Apostles, from the third day after the death of 
Jesus, testified, substantially as related by Paul, to 
his resurrection. We have, therefore, the testi- 
mony of the Apostles to this cardinal fact in the 
Gospel history, and that testimony is entitled to 
credit. 
It is said, by way of objection, that the alleged 
manifestation of Jesus to Paul was in a vision, and 
that this may have been unreal. But, 
first, Paul distinguishes the first revelation 
of Jesus to him, when he saw Jesus, from subse- 
quent visions and revelations (2 Cor. xii. 1; 1 Cor. 
ii. 10). “ Last of all,” he says, enumerating the 


Paul saw 
Jesus, 


11 Cor. xv. 1-9, 


e si 

oS as . 

=) ; 
=e aa 


WITNESS OF PAUL TO THE RESURRECTION. 48 


appearances of the risen Jesus, ‘‘ he appeared to me 
also.” Whether by “all” is here meant all inter- 
views with the risen Jesus, or all of the Apostles, 
the inference following from the stacetent is the 
same. Paul’s sight of Jesus at his conversion was 
the last of the series of his bodily manifestations, 
as distinguished from apocalyptic visions. Secondly, 
even if there were any reason to regard these Sast as 
unreal, his first perception of Christ could not be 
accounted for in this way. We shall show hereafter 
that Paul’s mind was not in such a state as to per- 
mit us to ascribe that first revelation to him to the 
effect of hallucination. We shall find him assur- 
ing us that he had not felt the least doubt as to 
the rectitude of the course that he was pursuing 
in his warfare on the disciples. He had not the 
slightest misgivings on the subject. The expres- 
sion: “It is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks,’ is a proverb denoting the futility of the at- 
tempt to withstand the progress of Christ’s cause. 
It has no reference to inward feelings of Paul, as 
if he were disturbed by doubt and a divided 
mind. He verily thought that he was doing God 
service. 

Whatever the nature of the alleged manifestation 
of Jesus to Paul was, there is no reason to inter- 
pret him as saying that the appearances of Jesus to 
the other Apostles were of the same kind as to him. 


If we turn to the Gospels, we find accounts of inter- 


Ad CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. - 


views of the risen Jesus with his followers, which, 
to say the least, are the earliest and the only tradi- 
tions that were Janded down in the early Church. 
This can e-sately affirmed before we examine the 
question A the authorship of the Gospels. There is 
certainly, even at this stage of our discussion, no 
reason fo doubt that these accounts in the Gospels 
embedy the statements which the Apostles made to 
their converts. At all events, Paul’s letter to the _ 
Corinthians establishes the point that they testified 
to the interviews which he there enumerates. 

Were the Apostles deceived? Were these mani- 
festations to them (and to the five hundred) a delu- 
The halluc: Sion of. their own minds? Hallucination 
nation theory. ig a disorder of the senses, or of the 
brain, which leads one to see or to hear what has 
no reality outside of the nervous organism. This 
explanation of the appearances of Jesus to the Dis- 
ciples after his death, is excluded for several rea- 
sons that are decisive. There is no probability that 
they were looking for any such reappearance of 
fietet: There is no reason to distrust, but good 
reasons for believing, the statements of the Evan- 
gelists that the disciples, although they did not 
disperse, or forsake Jerusalem, were affected with 
sorrow and fear. This would be natural on finding 
themselves bereaved of their Master, and their 
hopes connected with him crushed by an event so 
appalling as his crucifixion. There was, then, no _ 


WITNESS OF PAUL TO THE RESURRECTION. 45 


preparation of mind for such a delusion as the hal- 
lucination theory implies. Then, the fact that so 
_ many persons, in companies, on different occasions, 
were persuaded, without a shadow of doubt, that 
Christ was with them, and that they saw him, ren- 
ders such an hypothesis the more improbable. 
When the authenticity of the Gospels shall have 
been established, the circumstances related by them 
—for example, the doubts of Thomas and the way 
they were overcome—will be seen absolutely to pre- 
clude the theory in question. But, besides these 
_ considerations, the idea of hallucination is shut out 
by one remarkable peculiarity of the alleged mani- 
festations of the risen Jesus. They took place, as 
Paul’s testimony shows, at intervals, and in a definite 
number. They began at a certain time—on the third 
day ; and they ended after a brief period. Had the 
followers of Jesus been in that state of mind out of 
which the illusions of hallucination might arise, and 
if this had been the source of what they thought to 
_be actual reappearances of Jesus, these manifesta- 
tions would have been much more numerous. They 
would not have begun and ended at these definite 
points. They would not have suddenly ceased. 
They would have continued and multiplied as time 
went on, and as the courage and enthusiasm of the 
flock increased. This would surely have been the 
case, according to the ordinary law of the working 
of this sort of mental delusion. | 


46 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


The conclusion is justified that the testimony of 
the Apostles, to which they adhered at the cost of 
every earthly comfort and of life itself—for there 
is no doubt that they steadfastly endured these 
penalties—ought to be believed. 


CHAPTER VIII 
THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS, 


The evidence of the genuineness of the Gospels 
is the same in kind as the evidence which satisfies 
Nature of the US Of the genuineness of the History of 
PEoots. the Jews (ascribed to Josephus), of Livy’s 
History of Rome, and of other writings, whether 
ancient ormodern. The early reception of writings 
as genuine by those who had the means of knowing, 
early traditions respecting them which are not justly 
liable to suspicion, references to them, or quotations 
from them, at a time when, if they were spurious, 
this fact could not have been concealed, internal 
marks in the works themselves indicative of their 
_ authorship or date of composition—these are among 
the proofs on which we rel y in determining the 

question of the origin of literary works. 

In glancing at the evidence on this subject, in the 
present case, we will first take our stand in the clos- 
ing part of the second century. It is allowed on all 
hands that the four Gospels of the canon were at 
that time the sole and universally recognized author- 
ities concerning the life of Jesus, in all the churches 


AS CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


in the different regions of the Roman Empire. 
From this starting-point we will travel backward to 
the immediate neighborhood of the Apostolic age. 
One of the most famous and influential men in 
the Church in the last quarter of the second century 
was lrenzeus, who became bishop of Ly- 
ons, in Gaul, a.p. 177. Not far from a.p. 
180 he wrote an elaborate work against the heresies 
which had sprung up in that century. In the 
course of this work he has occasion to speak of the 
Four Gospels as received by all the churches, and 
received exclusively. He does not speak of this 
fact as anything new, or as if he had ever heard of 
anything different, or as if there could be any rea- 
sonable doubt that this exclusive rank belonged to 
the Four. According to Irenwus, one might as 
well think of more or less than four quarters of the 
earth, of more or less than the four winds. He 
tells us, moreover, in detail,’ that Matthew pub- 
lished “a written Gospel among the Hebrews in 
their own language,” that after the death of Peter 
and Paul, “ Mark, Peter’s disciple and interpreter, 
did himself also publish unto us in writing the 
things which were preached by Peter”; that “ Luke, 
too, the attendant of Paul, set down in a book the 
Gospel preached by him”; that “afterwards John, 
the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on his 
breast—he again put forth his Gospel while he abode — | 


1 Ady. Haer., IIL, i, 1. 


Irenzus. 


THH GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 49 


in Ephesus in Asia.” Elsewhere,’ Ireneeus informs 


us that John lived to an advanced age, and did not 
die until after the accession of Trajan (a.p. 98). 


Of the integrity of Irenzeus there is no question. 
We have only to ascertain what means he had of 
acquainting himself with the past. He 
Value of the a 5 : 
testimony of was born in Asia Minor, and spent the 

eatly part of his life in the East. He 


 Ireneeus. 


well remembered Polycarp, the martyr, Bishop of 


Smyrna, who was an acquaintance and disciple of the 
Apostle John himself.* Polycarp was put to death 


AD. 155. How long it was before his death that 
Trenzeus had intercourse with him we are not told, 


but it was when Irenzeus himself was young. He 
was probably born between a.p. 120 and a.p. 130. 
Besides the memorable fact of his acquaintance 
with Polycarp, Irenzeus was familiar with many 


‘Christian disciples who were old when he was a 


youth. Pothinus, whose colleague he was for a 
while at Lyons, before he succeeded him as bishop, 
lived to the age of ninety years. He died a.p. 177. 
Trenzeus had conferred with “elders ”—that is, ven- 
erated leaders in the Church of an earlier time, who 
had been pupils of men whom the Apostles had in- 
structed, and some of whom had gat at the feet of 
the Apostles themselves.’ 


1 Adv. Haer., II., xxii., 5. 
-* Adv. Haer., III., iii., 4; Epist. ad Flor. 
* Ady. Haer., II., xxii., 5; py tL, ii 4s Vy exh We 


Xxxil., 1; cf. Eusebius, Hist. Hecl., THE. 28 scLV., 44 VN, 8: 


4 


50 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


A like testimony to the universal exclusive re- 
ception of the Four Gospels, as the authorities 
janded down in the churches, is given by other 
distinguished church teachers, contemporaries of 
Irenseus. We hear substantially the same thing 
Pieces from Clement, a renowned theological 
Tertullian. teacher at Alexandria, and from Tertul- 
lian, who was a leading presbyter in North Africa. 
Clement was born not later than a.p. 160. Referring 
to a statement in an apocryphal Gospel, he remarks 
that itis not found “in the four Gospels which have 
been handed down to us.”’ Clement was a man of 
learning who had, moreover, travelled extensively. 
The four Gospels, Tertullian asserts, have existed 
from “the very beginning,” and “are coeval with 
the churches themselves.”? His appeal is to the 
testimony of churches which the Apostles them- 
selves founded. 

We now go back to the generation prior to lre- 


neeus. Here we have the testimony of Justin Mar- ~ 


gated Uye. Justin was put to death for being 


es a Christian, under Marcus Aurelius, prob-- 
ably a.p. 166. At the time of the Jewish rebel-— 
-Hion of Bar-cochba (a.p. 184-136), he had already 
pursued extensive studies in various schools of phi- P 
losophy, and had been converted to the Christian — 


$ 


faith. He was born, it is believed, at the close of 
the first century. His birthplace was the Roman 


1Strom., III., 553 (ed. Potter). 2 Ady. Marcion, IV., 5. 


j 
| 
: 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 51 


colony of Flavia Neapolis, near the ancient Sichem, 
in Samaria; but his family was Greek. He so- 
journed for a time at Ephesus. He had a wide 
acquaintance with Christians, and with their 
churches in many places. Three of his writings 
are extant —two ‘“ Apologies,” or Defences of 
Christianity, and the Dialogue with Trypho, a 
dew. The first of his Apologies was addressed 
to Antoninus Pius, about 148; the second fol- 
lowed not long after the first. The sources from 
which Justin draws his accounts of the life and 
teachings of Jesus he styles Memoirs, or Me- 
moirs of the Apostles. Writing for dishelievers 
outside of the Church, he has no occasion to refer 
to the authors of them by name. But he describes 
them as written by Apostles and their companions. 
This he does in connection with a passage that is 
found in Luke.’ This description answers to the 
Four, two of whom bear the names of Apostles, 
and the other two were ascribed to attendants of 
Apostles. In one place he refers to an incident re- 
specting Peter, which he professes to derive from 
“his Gospel.” * The incident is found in Mark, 
which, as we know from other sources, was not un- 
frequently called Peter’s Gospel. Another reading 
of the text in Justin, however, would make the ref- 
erence to be, as in other places, to the Memoirs of 
“the Apostles.” He calls the Memoirs, in one 


1 Dial. c. 108. 2 Dial., c. 108, 


59 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


place, ‘‘ Gospels.” ' Twice he refers to ‘“‘the Gos 
pel,” ? a title given in other authors to the Four 
collectively. Justin says that the Memoirs were in 
public use. They were read on Sunday in the re- 
ligious services of Christians, “in city and coun- 
try.”° What were these “‘ Memoirs”? They must 
have been the same as those described by [venzeus. 
If not, it must be assumed that after Irenaeus had 
grown up to manhood, the authoritative Gospels in 
use in the Churches were superseded by others, or 
else that new Gospels, not previously acknowledged, 
took their place by the side of such as had pre- 
viously been accepted. But how could so impor- 
tant changes take place, and Irenzeus know nothing 
of them ? 
But the references to the contents of the Me- 
moirs in Justin are very numerous. When they 
; are brought together they make up a 
Correspond- e 
ence of the pretty full account of the events in the 
the Gospels life of Jesus, and of his sayings. They 
correspond to the statements of the ca- 
nonical Evangelists. A large part of the matter 
accords with what we find in Matthew and Luke; a 
small portion of it is found in Mark alone; and 
there are not wanting striking correspondences to 
passages occurring exclusively in John. It is true 
that the quotations are not verbally accurate. Tor 
Justin’s purpose there was no occasion that they 


1 Apol., I, c. 66. 2 Dial., cc, 10, 100. 3 Apol., I. 67 


a ee eee a Let pe ee St a a SD 8 


i 


THE GHNUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 53 


should be. But his quotations from the Gospels 
are not more free, as to their form, than are his ref- 
erences to Old Testament passages. He does not 
even think it necessary to cite a passage the second 
time in the same words. His verbal inaccuracy in 
quoting John (John iii. 3-5) was a natural one, and 
has been shown to be just the same as in a citation 
of the passage in so late a writer as the celebrated 
English divine, Jeremy Taylor.’ Justin’s references 
to events or sayings in the Gospel history, which 
have not substantial parallels in the Gospels of the 
Canon, are few and insignificant, and can be ac- 
counted for without supposing them to have been 
derived from other written sources. They embrace 
not more than two sayings of Jesus, both of which 
are found in other writers who yet own no author- 
itative Gospels but the four of the Canon. 

An additional proof that Justin’s Gospels were 
the four of the Canon is the fact that Tatian, who 
Tatian’s was a pupil of Justin, combined these 
harmony. —_ four in a simple narrative, called Déates- 
saron, or the Gospel of the Four. It began with 
the opening passage of John’s Gospel. 


7 Justin’s words are: ‘‘ For, indeed, Christ also said ‘ except ye be 
born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ And 
that it is impossible for those who are once born to enter into their 
‘rothers’ womb is plain to all.” Not alone by the correspondence of 
tassages in Justin with particular verses in John, is his use of this 
Gospel made evident. His teaching in respect to the Logos or Word 
must have been derived from a source recognized as authoritative ; 
_and no such source is known, unless it was the Fourth Gospel. 


54+ CHRISTIAN HVIDENCES, 


The Christian literature prior to the middle of 
the second century is scanty in amount, and frag- 
brat cp’ pl THOR LBLY. It consists for the most part 
oe of letters, written for purposes of edifica- 

tion. Statements coincident with pas- 
sages in the Gospels occur, but they are usually inter- 
woven in the text, either without any express notice 
that they are quoted, or with an indefinite mention 
of them as being a part of authoritative Christian 
teaching. It is not always possible to tell with cer- 
tainty whether such passages were taken from the 
oral tradition at the basis of the first three Gospels, 
or from these writings themselves. But we meet in 
the Apostolic Fathers, the writers of the sub-apos- 
tolic age, numerous echoes of the narratives which 
make up the contents of the four canonical Gospels. 
A few instances may be given of this 
character. Polycarp, in his Epistle to 
the Philippians,’ has the words: “ According as the 
Lord said, ‘the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh 
is weak.” The quotation corresponds exactly to 
Matt. vi. 13, and was probably derived from this 
Gospel. In the same chapter, Polycarp says : “For 
every one who shall not confess that Jesus Christ is 
come in the flesh, is antichrist.” This statement was 
taken from 1 John iv. 2-4, unless indeed it was re- 
membered by Polycarp as having been uttered by 
liis apostolic teacher. Without doubt, the Gospel 


1C, vii. 


Polycarp. 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 55 


of John and the first Epistle are from the same 
hand. The Epistle erroneously ascribed to Barna- 
npistieot 28 Was written not later than a.p. 120. It 
Barnabas. —_ contains several passages which it is most 
natural to refer to the Gospel of Matthew as their 
source. ‘This appears almost certain respecting the 
passage, “He came not to call the righteous but 
sinners.” ’ In another place it is said: “Let us 
take heed lest so be that we be found, as it is writ- 
ten, ‘ Many called, but few chosen.’?”? The words 
quoted are identical with Matt. xx. 16, or xxii. 14. 
The preface—“ it is written””—was the common pre- 
fix to citations from sacred Scripture. If it have 
this meaning here, the Gospel is placed on a level 
with the books of the Old Testament. 

A very ancient document, called ‘“ The Teaching 
of the Twelve Apostles,” was first published in 1888, 
menchinz ot 2 L2W Years after its discovery in a library 
the XII. Apos. in Constantinople. It is held by some 

scholars to be older than the Epistle of 
Barnabas (4.p. 120), and even to be as early as the 
last years of the first century. If not so old as Bar- 
nabas, we are forbidden by internal marks from 
placing it later than a.p.140. It isa kind of Church 
manual of instruction, characterized by a strong 
infusion of Jewish Christian peculiarities. This 
book contains passages which imply a use of the 
Gospels of Matthew and of Luke. In one place® it 


ECuwso; et, Matt. ix, 18, ONG eu 3 C. xv. 


J Wom 


56 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


says: “But your prayers and your alms and all 
your ‘deeds so do ye, as ye have it in the Gospel of | 
our Lord.” The same word—the Greek for “ Gos- | 
pel” *__ocenrs in three other places in the book. It 
is probable that the term denotes a written record. 
It is the name given in Origen and other early writ- 
ers to the Four Gospels, ikem collectively, or re-_ 
garded as one body. As used in the Teaching, it: 
may have the same meaning; or it may possibly 
designate a combination, or Gea of Matthew 


2 


and Luke, which was in the author’s hands. The 


of these Sea the three Enchar istic pr ay ers’ con- 
tain words and phrases peculiar to John’s Gospel. 
From this source it is natural to conclude that they 
were drawn. = 

The antiquity of the Gospels is proved by the. 
ancient versions that were made. The Peshito, 
the Bible of the Syrian churches, origina= 
ted, in all probability within the limits of ‘ 
the second century. Its origin is placed by the most 
competent scholars in the first half of that century. 
The Old Latin version was in current use when Ter- 
tullian wrote. It must have been made earlier than. 
A.D. 170; how much earlier we cannot determine. ! 


The ancient 
versions. 


1 Cc. ix. and x 


pe) 


7 


THE GHENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 57 


From a contemporary of Justin, but older than 
~he—Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia—we 
| have definite accounts relative to the 
composition of the Gospels of Matthew 
and Mark. Papias was a contemporary of Poly- 
carp (who was born a.p. 69 and died, as we have 
said, in 155). Papias was diligent in gathering 
information from those who had been conversant 
with the Apostles, and he appears to have con- 
ferred personally with two of the immediate dis- 
ciples of Jesus, John, the Elder (as he is called), 
and Aristion. He was thought by Irenzeus to have 
been acquainted with John, the Apostle, but this is 
doubted by the ancient church historian, Eusebius. 
Papias wrote a book entitled, ‘Exposition of the 
Oracles of the Lord.” In this work, he says of 
John, the Elder, or Presbyter, in a passage quoted 
by Eusebius : 


Testimony of 
Papias. 


“And the Elder said this: ‘‘Mark, having become the in- 
terpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately what he remembered, 
not, however, recording in order what was either said or done 
by Christ. For neither did he hear the Lord nor follow him, 
but afterwards, as I have said, attended Peter,” ete. 


“Such,” adds Eusebius, “is the relation in Papias 
concerning Mark. But concerning Matthew this is 
said: ‘So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the 
YWebrew language, and everyone interpreted them 
S he was able.’”? 


' Euseb., Hist. Eccl., iv., 30. 


, 
a} 5 


58 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


The language of Papias implies that the necessity 
of translating the Hebrew or Avamaie original of 
Matthew no longer existed. That is to say, Mat- 
thew in the Greek was in his hands. Some schol- 
ars are of opinion that the word for “ oracles” in 
the foregoing extracts from Papias, should be ren- 
dered “ discourses” or “sayings,” and that the work 
which Matthew wrote in Aramaic consisted mostly 
of discourses of Jesus. To these, it is supposed, the 
narrative parts of the book were added, in connec- 
tion with its translation into Greek. Whatever ex- | 
pansion the writing of Matthew may have received 
after it was first composed, the work was so far 
recognized as his production that it continued to 
bear his name. That it existed in its present form 
as early as the capture of Jerusalem by Titus (A. D. 
70) will be proved hereafter from internal evidence. 
If any portion of the book had another author than 
Matthew, that author was a contemporary disciple 
of sufficient authority to secure an undisputed 
acceptance of what was thus connected with the 
Apostle’s composition. This editor of Matthew 
would stand thus on a level with Mark and Luke. 

A striking proof of the genuineness of the canon- 
ical Gospels is the use made of them by heretical 
leaders, by whom they are dealt with as A] 
having authority in the churches. From 
these Gospels they endeavor to draw support for 
their eccentric opinions. In behalf of the third 


Marcion, 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 59 


Gospel there is evidence of a peculiar character 
from the treatment of it by Marcion, the founder 
of a sect bearing his name. Marcion was an active 
and formidable heresiarch when Justin wrote his 
first Apology (4.p. 148). He was born in Pontus, 
in Asia Minor; he knew Polycarp; and he was in 
Rome as early as about a.p. 140. Owing to his 
one-sided zeal for Paul’s doctrine, as le incorrectly 
understood it, he refused to acknowledge the other 
Apostles as authorized guides, and made up a 
Canon, or collection of Scriptures, out of Paul's 
| Epistles, and the Gospel of Luke—striking out 
‘of Luke, however, passages which recognized the 
authority, of the Old Testament law. The Gospel 
used by Marcion is demonstrated, and is now gen- 
erally conceded, to have been a mutilated Luke. 
This mutilation of the third Gospel, in order to 
promote a sectarian purpose, and the whole pro- 
ceeding of Marcion in the matter, make it clear that 
Luke’s Gospel, as we have it, was at the time gen- 
erally received in the churches. Marcion selected 
‘this Gospel for the reason that Luke was acknowl- 
edged to have been a disciple of Paul. It is a just 
inference that the canonical Gospel was an authori- 
tative document in the churches when a consider- 
able number of the younger paneer porarics of the 
Apostles were still living. 

Within the first three Gospels themselves there 
are distinct evidences of their early date, and what- 


60 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES, 


ever proves their early date, proves likewise their 


genuineness; since, in the lifetime of the Apostles, 


Internal prop 2G under their eyes, forged composi- | 


of the earl , a : . ’ 
sntacf hoarse: tLONS, had anybody wished or dared to 


three Gospels. frame them, could not have secured accept- | 
ance among those whom the Apostles guided and | 
taught. The most convincing of these internal | 
proofs is in the predictive passages respecting the | 
destruction of Jerusalem and the Parousia, or Sec- | 
ond Advent, of Christ. The first impression made | 
by these passages in Matthew is that there was no | 
time to intervene between the two events, and the 
impression made by the corresponding passages in | 
Mark and in Luke is that the interval is to be | 
brief. It is not requisite here to attempt to ex-_ 
plain the passages in question, or to account for the | 
peculiarity to which we allude. Whatever expla- 
nation is adopted, it remains evident that, had the | 
Gospels been written at a later day, the association | 
of the destruction of Jerusalem with the last Judg- | 
ment, in the manner and form in which they ap- | 
pear to be connected by the Evangelists, especially 
in Matthew, would not exist. There would surely | 
have been some explanation, some caution against | 
so natural an inference, some indication that the | 
two events were not to stand in so close juxtaposi- | 
tion. Whoever will candidly examine the passages | 
referred to, will be persuaded that the first three — 
Gospels were written before the generation that | 


Riis eww § 


Se 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 61 


listened to Jesus had passed off the stage. Mat- 
thew was composed before Jerusalem was taken by 
Titus. In any revision of this Gospel later than 
this catastrophe, these perplexing passages would 
“not have been left unexplained. Mark must like- 
wise have preceded the capture of the city and the 
destruction of the temple; and Luke must have 
been written, if not before, within a short time after 
these momentous occurrences. 

The first three Gospels—and the same will be 
found to be true of the fourth—abound in allusions 
“toca refer. to places, local customs, characteristic 
a ideas and feelings, such as no counter- 
_feiter, writing at a later day, could have wrought 
‘into the narratives. They are introduced without 
design. They are such as only contemporaries fa- 
‘miliar with Palestine and the ways of the people 
could have been conversant with. Very rarely there 
“may occur a reference of this sort which it is diffi- 
cult to verify; but this is true of the best accredited 
ancient writers who have left us accounts of their 
own times. The atmosphere of the Gospels is that 
of Galilee and Judea in the days of the Apostles. 

The third Gospel and the book of Acts were as- 
| Biternal i. cribed without dispute, in the ancient 
§ “eithegenu- Church, to Luke, a companion of Paul 
, —the same Luke who is referred to by the 
Apostle.’ Both works are undeniably by the same 


1 Col. iv. 16; 2 Tim. iv. 11. 


da 4 "e 
» be 


62 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


author. This is manifest from the style. The book — 
of Acts refers to “the former treatise,” which was | 
also addressed to the same Theophilus to whom the | 
Acts is inscribed.’ The author of the third Gospel | 
professes to have derived his information from care- | 
ful inquiries made of immediate witnesses and par- | 
ticipants in the events related.» He had learned | 
the facts orally, or, it might be, in part from writ-_ 
ings. His avowed purpose was to present an accu- | 
rate, consecutive narrative. There is no reason for 
questioning the fact that this statement was made 
by the author of the Gospel, or for doubting its | 
cee aoe truth. That the author was really at times | 
attendant of a companion of Paul is established by a_ 

peculiar, convincing piece of evidence. | 
The narrative in Acts moves on as we should expect 
of a historian who has gathered his information _ 
from others, until he arrives at Troas.? Then there | 
is a sudden transition to the first person plural—_ 
‘immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia.” | 
The use of the pronoun, implying the author’s per- | 
sonal association with Paul, goes on until the Apostle — 
reaches Philippi. Then it is dropped during the rest | 
of the Apostle’s second missionary journey. But he. 
joins Paul again, it would appear, at Philippi,‘ and 
continues in his company all the way to Rome. The | 
graphic description of the voyage and shipwreck 


1 Acts i. 1; Luke i. 4. 2 Luke i. 3. 
3 Acts xvi. 10, 4 Acts xx. 5. 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 63 


makes it almost impossible to doubt that it was 


written by one who saw what he relates. There is 
no reasonable explanation of this use of the pronoun 
“we” in these parts of the book except that the 
author of the Acts (and thus the author of the third 
Gospel) accompanied Paul for a time on his jour- 
ney. The style of the “we” passages is in com- 


plete accord with that of the rest of the book. This 


_ of itself excludes the idea that they are quoted from 


a document not written by the author. We cannot 
attribute to him a purpose to deceive the reader on 


this point. Had he been capable of such a fraudu- 


-Jent intent he would have taken pains to make his 


pretended relation to Paul more conspicuous. He 
would not have left it to be detected and inferred 
by none but observing readers. This is not at all the 
manner of the framers of pseudonymous writings. 
It has been alleged that the representation of the 


relation of Paul to the other leading Apostles, which 


‘Agreement of 18 given in the Acts, and of Paul’s teach- 


_ Acts witteor. ing to theirs, is not consistent with what 


Paul. 


we Jearn from his Epistles. This charge 


applies especially to Acts xv., and to the account 


there of the conference at Jerusalem. The allegation 


is that there was hostility to Paul and his doctrine, 


on the part of Peter. This objection would imply 
that the author of the Acts, whoever he may have 
been, was a later writer and a deliberate deceiver. 
It is overthrown completely by Paul’s own un- 


64 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


equivocal statement that the other A postles—Peter, 


James, and John—“ added nothing” to him; that 
is, had nothing to add, by way of amendment, to 


his doctrine—and by his distinct assertion that they 


gave to him “the right hand of fellowship.”? This — 
disproves the notion that Peter was a judaizer. That : 
there was a public conference is not excluded, but _ 
rather implied in Paul’s language.’ That the results _ 


of it were substantially as related in the Acts, ad- 
mits of no reasonable doubt. James, and those of 


like mind with him, would not have been content 


with a less measure of accommodation to Jewish — 


feeling, from the side of the Gentile converts. That 
they were content is established by Paul’s testimony 
in the Galatians. 


The fourth Gospel is distinguished by marked 


characteristics from the other three. It has a more 
full account of the labors of Jesus in Judea. 
The-fourth Gos- : A ° . 
yeland the A¢cording to the fourth Gospel his min- 
first three. ‘ 
istry extended over more than three years ; 


whereas from the first three—looked at apart from 


the light thrown on them by the fourth—we should _ 


infer that it was limited to about one year. The 
style of the discourses in John differs from that of 


most of the sayings of Jesus recorded in the other 
Evangelists. But these differences do not amount — 


to an inconsistency. As to the labors of Jesus in 


Judea, and the duration of his ministry, we find in — 


1 Gal. ii. 6, 9. 2 Gal. ii. 2. 


I 
| 


- Peculiarities of 
* the fourth Gos- 


i 


' genuineness. 


~The Alogi, 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 65 


the other Gospels incidental corroboration of the 
satements in John.’ We find in them, also, occa- 
sional utterances of Jesus in the same vein as that 


of the discourses in the fourth Gospel.’ The lan- 


guage ascribed to Jesus, as faras it is like that of 
the Evangelist himself, and of other persons who 


appear in his narrative, may be accounted for natu- 


rally, if we suppose that John had assimilated the 
thoughts of his master, and presents them, in part, 


‘ina condensed form and in language of his own. 


These peculiarities of the fourth Gospel 
are really an argument for its genuine- 
ness, for they are such as no forger, no 
one falsely assuming to be an Apostle, would have 
ventured to impart to his composition. He would 


pel prove its 


~yvather have sought to imitate, as far as he could, 


the earlier, acknowledged, and well-known Gospels. 
Having these striking peculiarities, it would have 
been suspected and rejected on the ground of them, 


had not the churches and church teachers had good 
evidence that an Apostle wrote it. But we dis- 
cover that the fourth Gospel was received in the 


second century without question or con- 
tradiction. ‘The only exception is the ob: 
position to it of a handful of so-called “Alogi,” at 
_ Thyatira, about a.p. 170, who disliked it ee 


on doctrinal grounds. But even this handful of sec- 


' For example, in Matt. xxiii. 37. 

2 For example, Matt. xi. 27 (Luke x. 22). 
= 

a 


66 CHRISTIAN EVIDENUES. 


taries, Sy ascribing it to Cerinthus, a contemporary 


of John, the Apostle, at Ephesus, and an opponent, 


refuted themselves, since their assertion implied its 
early date, and since the acceptance by the church 


of Ephesus, and by the other churches in Asia Mi- 


nor and elsewhere, of a Gospel which was the work 
of a notorious heretic, is incredible. ‘To the testi- 
mony of Irenzeus, and to the decisive character of 
it, in view of his relations to Polycarp and to others 
in that very region, we have already adverted.’ 

The fourth Gospel was written by a Palestinian 
Jew. This is shown, among other proofs, by pecu- 
Locat rer.  larities of language. Moreover, the Gos- 
ee pel is strewn with references to local 
peculiarities which prove the author to have been 
well acquainted with the scenes of the narrative. 


This characteristic has been admitted by prominent ~ 
critics of the skeptical schools. Rénan says of the ~ 


account of the healing of the nobleman’s son in the | 
fifth chapter, that it was written by one who had _ 


himself made the journey from Cana to Caper- 


Jay 


naum. Irenszeus could not have been deceived in — 
his recollections of what he had heard from Poly- — 
carp, a disciple of John, nor could he have been — 


mistaken as to the person to whom Polycarp re- 


ferred, and reminiscences of whom he was fond of 


relating. In the circle in the midst of which Poly- 


carp was held in honor, and of which Ivenzeus, in © 


1 Page 48, seq. 


Pig ash met * 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 67 


his youth, was a member, there was no doubt or dis- 


_ pute respecting the authorship and date of the 
- fourth Gospel. 


The manner in which the authorship of the 


_ fourth Gospel is disclosed in the work itself con- 


tains a strong proof of its genuineness. 
The author of , : ‘ = 
the fourth This disclosure of himself by the author 
ospel—his ; 5 é : 
disclosure of stands in connection with an attestation 


himself. 
appended to the book at the close. In 


the course of the narrative, a disciple is referred 
_ to repeatedly, but with an avoidance of the mention 
of his name. There leaned on the bosom of Jesus 


at the Last Supper “one of his disciples whom 
Jesus loved.”' There went with Peter to the tomb 
of Jesus “the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.” ? 
He is spoken of as “another disciple,” and “that 
other disciple.” It will not be doubted that he was 
the “one of the two” who with Andrew followed 


_ Jesus to his abode.* It is said that on the second 
_ day after the baptism of Jesus, he and Andrew 
were standing with John the Baptist, whose dis- 
ciples they were. They heard what John said of 
_ Jesus as he walked by, and followed him. Jesus 
_ turned, and asked them what they were seeking. 


They inquired where his abode was. He invited 
them to come and see. It was four o’clock, we are 


_ told, when they joined him, and they spent with him 
the remainder of the afternoon. That this anony- 


Ascii. 23; 2 xx, 2, $j, 39. 


68 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


mous disciple was Jolin, or that he is the person 
designated in these expressions, is not questioned. 
The “other disciple” was not Peter, for Peter is 
mentioned as an associate. No one has imagined it 
to be James, the brother of John, who died early in 
the Apostolic age.’ Of the three who are known 
to have been most intimate with Jesus, only John 
is left. Now this covert method of revealing the 
author could only spring from a certain delicacy of 
feeling on his part, which prevented him from giv- 
ing his own name, especially since he was led to 
speak of himself as standing in so tender a relation 
to Jesus. <A forger, a writer pretending to be John, 
would never have resorted to this peculiar mode of 
indicating who he was, or professed to be. It is 
utterly contrary to the style characteristic of spuri- 
ous writings. 

At the end of the Gospel there is an attestation 
which has been connected with it, in all probability, 
‘Acai aes since its first publication. It reads as fol- 
perae lows: “ This is the disciple which beareth 

witness of these things, and wrote these 
things; and we know that his witness is true.” ” 
According to the ancient tradition, the Gospel was 
published by the disciples of John at Ephesus, after 
his death. This, then, is the indorsement which 
comes from those into whose custody it was given. 

If any should imagine that the Gospel was com- 


1’ Acts xii. 2. 2 John xxi. 24 (Revised Version). 


ae “tea 


THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 69 


posed by these pupils of John, on the basis of what 
they had learned from him, the objections to this 


_ hypothesis are conclusive. First, it is contrary to 


the certification just quoted. Secondly, it is con- 
| ted by the manner in which the author modestly 


_.eils his own personality, instead of directly declar- 


ing himself, 
The style of the first of the Epistles ascribed to. 
John makes it evident that it was written by the 


- same author as the fourth Gospel. In this Epistle 
~ we have an unequivocal declaration that the author 


of it was with Jesus and an eye-witness of what he 
did.’ 

That the author was personally conversant with 
Jesus is distinctly implied in his use of the first 
person plural of the pronoun:? “We beheld his 
glory,” ete. He plainly asserts that he saw water 
and blood flowing from the side of Jesus as he hung 
on the cross.’ If it was not so, we are obliged to im- 


pute to the author, whoever he was, wilful deception. 


The fourth Gospel is a sort of autobiography, or 


personal confession of the faith of the writer in 


Jesus, and of how it grew up in his soul. 
Personal in- ~ : : 
timacy im It is steeped in personal affection, and 
plied. 

pervaded by the atmosphere of personal 
loyalty and devotion. All this involves the fact of 
personal intimacy and discipleship. 

It has been shown that the four Gospels were 
‘1 Johni. 1. 2 John i. 14, 3 xix. 34, 


"0 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


written by Apostles and well-informed contempo- 
raries. Even if their authorship and date could not 
Bene be definitely ascertained, there is good 
Os reason to believe that in their contents 
the story which the Apostles told of Jesus, his 
teaching and works, is fairly embodied. From Jus- 
tin Martyr and other writers of the second century 
it is made plain that this and no other tradition ex- 
isted on the subject. The opponents of Christianity 
knew of no other. One of the most acute of these 
was Celsus, who is supposed to have com- 
posed his attack about a.p. 180. From 
Origen’s reply we can gather up a great portion of 
what Celsus wrote. Thus it is ascertained that the 
history of Jesus, which is the object of his adverse 
criticism, corresponds with what is narrated in the 


Celsus. 


Gospels. Celsus knew of no other conception of | 


Christ, and of his words and deeds. 


CHAPTER IX. 


_ ©RUSTWORTHINESS OF THE TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLES. 


We have before us in the Gospels the testimony 
: of the Apostles. We have the substance of what 
; they declared to be the truth respecting the career 
of Jesus. The question now to be considered is 
whether the Apostles are entitled to credit. They 
5 are worthy of belief unless it can be shown either 
* that they intended to deceive, or were 
themselves mistaken. Were soe impos- 
tors? Or, if not impostors, were they enthusiasts, 
‘incapable of discriminating between actual occur- 
ences and their own te eirinees Were they 
-knaves, or were they simpletons ? 

~ The Apostles understood that their office was that 
of witnesses. They were selected by Jesus to be with 
= him, to hear what he said and to see what 
Conscious of F ee 
being wit he did. In a passage, the a phen Halts of 
oe which is not open to question,’ Peter re- 
quires that one should be chosen to take the place 
of Sl udas, who had been with them and with: Christ. 


1 Acts i, 21-25. The prominence here given to Peter by the author, 


og CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


He must be qualified to bear witness to the resur- 
rection of Jesus—a fact singled out as the most im- 
portant in the Apostles’ testimony. 

The Apostles never ceased to feel that they were 
disciples. They stood in the position, not of origi- 
hiwnys nators, but of learners. Something un- 
asciples. _speakably precious had been communi- 
cated to them to be delivered to others. All their 
own hopes rested on the facts which they had noth- 
ing to do in originating. 

They tell their tale in the dispassionate tone that 
belongs to truthful witnesses. They are content 
to let the simple facts speak for them- 
selves. For example, there are no in- 
vectives against Judas. They go no further than 
just to relate what he did. 

The candor of the Apostles, and of the Evangel- 
ists who were not of their number, is evident. A 
single instance will suffice as an example. 
Luke relates how Paul was set upon by a 
furious mob of Jews.’ They shouted that he had 
brought Greeks into the temple, and had defiled 
that “holy place.” The historian takes pains to 
state immediately a fact—one that he might have 
_suppressed—which was of the nature of an excuse 
for their violence. They had seen, he tells us, one 
Trophimus, an Ephesian, with Paul, and had heard 
that he had taken him into the temple. 


Their tone. 


Their candor, 


1 Acts xxi. 27 seq. 


ee as 


one Oe io 
Samat ss, 2 Ty 


| 


y 
2 
ie 


CREDIBILITY OF THE APOSTLES. 73 


They show their honesty in relating things dis- 
creditable to themselves. Peter told the story of 
ae his denials of the Master, for it is related 
Be ome DY. Mark as well as by the other Evangel- 

ists. The reproofs of Jesus are faithfully 
set down. The Apostles speak of their ambition 
and contentious rivalry, and of the way in which 
they were rebuked by Christ.’ They relate how 
they failed to understand Jesus in cases where it 
seemed obtuse in them not to take in his mean- 
ing. What better proof can there be of candor? 
They even tell how they all forsook him.’ It is evi- 
dent that the Apostles had no thought of themselves, 
so absorbing was the interest which they felt in the 
scenes which they had beheld, and in which they 
had taken part, and in him to whom they looked 


_up as to their Jord and master. All personal consid- 


erations were lost in the magnitude of the events 


_ which had passed before their eyes. 


The sincerity of the Apostles is proved by what 


_ they were willing to endure in consequence of the 


"Their sincer. testimony which they gave. The Apostle 


+g it . 
oe. Paul speaks of the Apostles collectively 


“teak as “the cff-scouring of all things.” * They 


_ had no selfish advantage to gain. On the contrary, 
the hatred of their friends, exile, personal indigni- 


ties hard to bear, even torture and death, were the 


1 Mark ix. 34; Luke ix. 46 2 Matt. xv. 16, xvi. 6, 7, ete. 


 § Matt: xxvi. 56; Mark xiv. 50. 41 Cor. iv. 18. 


74 CHER IST TAN EVIDENCES. 


reward which they had to expect for testifying to 
what they professed to have seen and heard. 

The truth of the Gospel narratives is shown by 
a thousand incidental (and, therefore, undesigned) 
allusions to the topography, customs, and 
manners of the country—to peculiarities 
of time and place. These things, which prove their 
early date, confirm, also, their credibility. 

That the Gospel narratives spring out of inten- 
tional deceit will not be seriously alleged. To ac- 
the wane count for them as far as they relate mir- 
cal theory: — acles, the ‘‘ mythical theory” was pro- 
posed by Strauss. This theory was that groups 
of early believers in Jesus, brooding over Old 
Testament predictions of the Messiah and accounts 
of miracles wrought by the prophets, emagined that 
Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, etc. These 
stories were an unconscious growth of fancy in se- 
cluded communities of Galilean followers of Jesus. 

This theory is untenable. Where were the com- 
munities of Christians who were so far removed — 
Ovjections 10m the oversight of the Apostles ? | 
as: Tow could that childlike, unreflecting — 
mood of feeling, required for the unconscious ac- — 
tion of mythopceic fancy, arise or abide when + 
the faith of Christian disciples was challenged at — 
every turn, and when they were called upon to de- | 
fend it against hostile criticism ? How could those 2 
who thought that the Messiah mast work miracles — 


Adlusions to 
local customs. 


. 
| 
I 


a 
Pe 
Fe 

A 


OREDIBILITY OF THE APOSTLES. 75 


have been moved to believe in Jesus unless he actu- 


ally met this indispensable condition? They felt 
- that miracles there must be, we are told, and hence 


invented or dreamed out fictitious tales to fill the 
gap; and yet the lack of them had not stood in the 


way of their faith in the messianic claim of Jesus! 
_ The time between the death of Jesus and the com- 


position of the Gospels was too short to admit of 


the rise of a body of myths, a spontaneous growth 
in the circles of believers. Moreover, the Gospels 
came not from secluded disciples, such as are imag- 


ined to have given birth to mythical tales. They 
came from the Apostles and those under their instruc- 


tion andcare. ‘These considerations are conclusive ; 
but, apart from them, the miracles, as we have seen, 


are so inseparably connected with the teaching of 
Jesus that neither ingredient of the Gospel narra- 
tives can be asad while the other is saved. 


f We cannot reject the accounts of miracles without, 


also, disbelieving the record of sayings of Christ, 


~ which are obviously and undeniably authentic. 


An objection is made to the credibility of the 
Gospels on the ground of alleged discrepancies. 
Allegea ais. Lhe first thing to be said in answer to 


merancice, this objection is that whether these be 


os 


_ real or only apparent, they prove that there was no 
_ collusion, no conspiracy, between the Evangelists 
or the informants from whom they, or any of them, 
Baevived their matter. The second remark is that 


76 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


discrepancies and inaccuracies belong to human 
testimony generally. On the principle that a wit- 
ness or an author is to be discredited if he fails of 
accuracy in all particulars, it would be impossible 
to believe anybody. Courts of law would have to 
be shut up, for the most veracious witnesses seldom 
agree in all the minutise which enter into their testi- 
mony. All books of history would have to be cast 
aside, including narratives written from personal 
observation. Paley says justly: “I know not a 
more rash or unphilosophical conduct of the under- 
standing than to reject the substance of a story 
by reason of some diversity in the circumstances 
with which it is related. The usual character of 
lman testimony is substantial truth under cireum- 
stantial variety. This is what the daily experience 
of courts of justice teaches. When accounts of a 
transaction come from the mouths of different wit- 
nesses, it is seldom that it is not possible to pick out 


apparent or real inconsistencies between them. © 
These inconsistencies are studiously displayed by | 
an adverse pleader, but often with little impression — 
upon the minds of the judges.” Where variations — 
occur in testimony, or inaccuracies in any single wit- 
ness or reporter, the only question is whether they — 
are of such a number and character as to. destroy 


the general trustworthiness of the narrators, and to 


cast doubts on the substantial contents of their 
tale. In the third place, whatever may be thought | 


| 


r OREDIBILITY OF THE APOSTLES. ras 


of minor points of variation from one another, the 
Gospels can be proved to contain no such instances 
of diversity in the narration as suffice to weaken 
their general credibility. It must be remembered 
that these books are not formal histories. They 
are memoirs. There is no aim at completeness. 
They are not put together by expert writers. Cir: 
cumstances, even very important facts, may be left 
out of one and recorded by another. In narratives 
of this character there is often an appearance of 
contradiction where some additional circumstance, 
not introduced, would at once dispel this appear- 
ance. 
_ It is sometimes made an objection to believing in 
the New Testament miracles that a great number 
ae of miraculous stories have been set afloat 
ecclesiastical which are generally admitted to be fabu- 
| lous. This objection overlooks the fact 
that the same thing is trueof numberless narratives 
in which nothing miraculous is involved. Because 
‘there are so many instances of mistake or imposi- 
tion, in what we read or hear, we do not disbelieve 
In everything that is related. 
The objection has no force unless it can be shown 
that the accounts of miracles which we feel justified 
in at once rejecting, are as well attested as are the 
miracles recorded in the Gospels. But this cannot 
be shown. It must be remembered that the cir- 
 eumstances under which testimony is given, as well 


: 


78 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


as the temper and character of the witness, must be. 
taken into view. The weight of proof is measured | 
by the strength of both of these factors combined. 

1. The Gospel miracles are express] y to verify re- 
velation. It was, for the most part, only at marked 
epochs in the progress of divine revelation that, ac 
cording to the Scriptures, miracles were wronght. On | 
the contrary, alleged miracles outside of thé Script 
ures are frequently naked marvels, deriving no sup- | 
port from any high, distinctive purpose a they 
are to subserve. 

2. The Gospel miracles were not wrought in co- | 
incidence with a prevailing system of belief, and 
for the furtherance of it. On the other hand, they | 
were performed in behalf of teaching and of claims 
which were hostile to established prepossessions. 
The miracles of Jesus were a part of the means by. 
which faith in him was created and built up. Mir- | 
acles related by the ancient fathers, or in the medi- | 
seval legends, were in harmony with religious beliefs. 
already deeply rooted. They were directly in the. 
line of popular expectations. This is a difference 
of very great importance. 

3. The disposition to deny the reality of the mir-. 
acles wrought by Christ, or to explain them away, | 
had to be confronted by the Apostolic witnesses, | 
It has been said truly that “exorcism, which is the 
contemporary Jewish miracle referred to in the 
Gospels, is evidently, if it stands by itself, and is 


CREDIBILITY OF THE APOSTLES. 79 


not confirmed by other and more decided marks of 
divine power, a miracle of a most doubtful and am- 
iguous character.” To whatever cause the disorder 
is referred, “a sudden, strong impression, ” rousing 
the energy of the patient, ne in less aggravated 
‘eases, effect acure. But, even as to exorcism, the 
_dews recognized the difference in the cures effected 
: by Jesus from anything familiar in their experience, 
and were driven to ascribe them to aid afforded by 
Beelzebub. In general, the miracles of Jesus were 
such as the people considered in the highest degree 
unlikely to occur. The statement, ain is aun 

made, that there was no idea of natural law, and, 
therefore, that there was an uninquiring cr ofahen 
is contrary to the truth. The idea of the stability 
of nature is constantly implied in the Gospel narra- 
tives. Galilee was a populous district, studded with 
es and villages. The minds of the people were 
iarpened by trade and commerce. They were not 
terate barbarians. They were the countrymen 
‘of Josephus. There were superstitions then, as in 
ry age since. But the difference between a nat- 
l event and a miracle was understood and felt. 


ince the world began was it not heard that a 
an opened the eyes s one that was born blind.” * 
‘icodemus said: “No man can do these miracles 
at thou doest, except God be with him.”* The 
John ix, 88, 2 John iii. 2. 


80 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


Pharisees and priests said: “‘ Remember that that 
deceiver said, while he was yet alive, ‘After three 
days, I will rise again.’”' Such a claim, they as- 
sumed, was characteristic of a deceiver. It was in 
the midst of such a community, in the face of all 
this disbelief, that the Apostles told their story. 


4. They were subjected to the severe test of per- — 


secution and suffering. Was it facts that they af- 
firmed? This was the question. Had there been 
a doubt in their minds, they must have given way 
under the pressure, not only of authority—the au- 
thority of the religious rulers and guides of the peo- 


ple—but, also, of the perils and sufferings which 


their testimony brought upon them. 
5. The habit of mind of the Apostolic witnesses 


is essentially different from that of the narratives 


of heathen and ecclesiastical miracles, and of won- 
ders elsewhere reported. Two things vitiate most 


of the testimony to events of this sort. The first is — 
the Jack of a clear perception of facts as they actu- ; 
ally occur. The second is an appetite for the mar- | 


vellous. This last feeling not only obscures the 


mental vision and is one cause of the fault just 


mentioned; it also begets a credulity which is 
fatal to the exercise of judgment respecting the 


statements of others. Both these defects, which — 


are closely connected together, may coexist with 
many good traits, including piety. Now, in the 
1 Matt. xxvii. 63. 


CREDIBILITY OF THE APOSTLES. 81 


case of the Apostolic witnesses, what is remarkable 
is the sobriety of mind, which leaves the perceptions 
- clear, and with it that conscientious regard for truth 
which insures strictly veracious testimony. 

The dignity and simplicity of the miracles re- 
eorded in the New Testament are, as a rule, in 
strong contrast with those found in legendary tales. 

The miracles in the apocryphal Gospels are, as a 
class, grotesque, fantastic, or otherwise offensive. 
This is the prevailing character, for example, of 
the miracles described in the Gospel of the In- 
- fancy. The same character, although not always 
in so excessive a degree, belongs to heathen and 
medieval legends. Exceptions occur, but they are 
exceptions—not numerous enough to efface the con- 
trast between pagan and ecclesiastical miracles in 
general, and the miracles ascribed to Jesus in the 
Evangelists. 

Finally, we revert to the character of Christ, 
which is too unique to be the product either of 
“imagination or of conscious invention. When that 
_ character, in its immaculate purity, is contemplated, 
in connection with the declared purpose of his life 
and mission, “to bear witness to the truth,” and 
“to seek and to save” the lost, supernatural mani- 
- festations of power appear to be a suitable accom- 
_ paniment of his work in the world. Why not the 
power, as well as the holiness and love of God? 
The antecedent improbability of miracle vanishes. 
% 5 


CHAPTER X. 


THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FROM THE 
EVANGELISTS. ¥ 


Now that the trustworthiness of the Gospel nar- 
ratives has been established, we can appeal to the — 
testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, which they — 
present. We can reinforce the argument founded : 
on the affirmations of the Apostle Paul, which was | 
presented in a former chapter;’ although Paul's: 
testimony, even when considered by itself, warrantel i 
the conclusion that was drawn from it. a 

To the transcendent importance of this fact of 


% 


the resurrection of Jesus, the Apostles were fully. 
aut alive. They staked upon it their verac- 
os nes ity. If he had not risen, they were will- 
ing to be considered false witnesses.’ The Lord’s 
resurrection was inseparably connected with the 
whole doctrine of redemption. It was involved in- 
all their hopes of salvation from sin, and of future | 
blessedness.° They went out to peel anne “Jesus 
and the resurrection.”* The estimate which they 
put upon this central fact is adapted to inspire con= | 


1Ch.VIL 21 Cor. xv. 15. 81Cor. xv.14. 4 Acts xvii. 18 | 


THE GOSPELS AND THE RESURRECTION. 83 


fidence in the witness which they gave concerning 

it. They would take every precaution against mis- 
_ take respecting a truth on which they were con- 
scious that everything depended. 

That Jesus really died is a proposition which it 
- is no longer requisite to defend. If it were possi- 
ble for him to survive the crucifixion, its 
prolonged torture, and the wound in the 

side, and if what appeared to be death could be 
_ supposed to have been only a swoon from which he 
awoke, how could his life in a mortal body have 
been continued? Where did he go? When did 
he really die? Such a continuation of his earthly 
_ life, if all other difficulties in the supposition were re- 

moved, could only have taken place through a consum- 
mate effort of deceit at which he himself connived. 
It is impossible to’ account for the alleged inter- 
views of the Apostles with the risen Jesus, by the 
No hallucina. SUPpoOsition that they were imaginary and 
ag grew out of an idea that, being the Mes- 
siah, he must rise from the tomb and appear in 
~ bodily form. There was not time for such a pro- 
cess of reasoning to take place in the minds of the 
Disciples, and for a series of visions, having no basis 
a in reality, to spring out of it. It was on the morn- 
ing of the third day that, as they affirmed, he ap- 
peared to them.’ Nor can it be reasonably thought 
= that real, miraculous visions-of Jesus, parted from 


as 


~~ A real death. 


11 Cor. xv. 4; Mark xvi. 2, etc. 


84. CHRISTIAN EVIDENUES. 


the body and entered on the heavenly life, were 
granted to them. This explanation is precluded by 
the fact that it was in his bodily form that they be- 
held him. It is absolutely excluded by the circum- 
stances that attended his manifestations to them. 
Spee The tomb, it must be remembered, was 
ee found empty, with the linen clothes left 
there, and the napkin folded and lying by itself.’ 
The body could not have been carried off by the 
enemies of Christ. They would have produced it 
to confute the assertion that he had risen. It 
could not have been carried away and hidden by 
his friends, without a fraudulent intent on their 
part, which none at the present day would impute 
to them. But the final, unanswerable proof of the 
Theinter. resurrection is in the character of the in- 
vee terviews of Jesus with his followers. On 
the. first Sunday there were five of these meetings 
with him. They were incredulous, but he over- 
came their incredulity. He spoke to them and they 
with him. He walked with them. He partook of 
food with them. They touched him. One of them 
put his finger upon the print of the nails.* The 
reality of his bodily presence was attested by what 
Luke justly calls “infallible proofs,” * appeals to | 
the senses—appeals of such number and variety as 
rendered the idea of an illusion absurd. 


1 John xx. 2 seq.; Luke xxvi. 3, ete. 2 John xx. 25 seq, 
8 Acts1. 3. 


THE GOSPELS AND THF RESURRECTION. 85 


Add to these considerations a fact before ad- 
verted to. The manifestations of Jesus to the 
disciples were limited to a certain number of in- 
The limit op Stances. The principal of these Paul re- 
Be ime. fers to. A few others are related in the 
Gospels. All these interviews ceased after a lim- 
ited, not very long time. Had they been the prod- 
uct of imagination and enthusiasm, they would 
_ have continued, increasing constantly the emotional 
excitement out of which they sprung. The ablest 
representative of the skeptical schools of criticism 
confesses that no explanation can be given of the 
undoubting and immovable faith of the Apostles 
in the resurrection of Jesus.’ There is only one 
reasonable explanation—namely, that the fact oc- 
curred. 


1F. C. Baur: History of the First Three Centuries, p. 39. He 
even calls the resurrection a ‘‘ wunder’’ (miracle). 


CHAPTER XI. 
ALLEGED ERRORS OF THE APOSTLES IN MATTERS OF OPINION. 


In answer to the objection that the Apostles held 
to erroneous opinions on certain subjects, it is to be 
Limitsofther 841d, in the first place, that no authority 
Knowledge. ig claimed for the Apostles, and no supe- 
riority of knowledge, except on matters involved in 
their mission, or in the work specially assigned to 
them by Jesus. They did not themselves pretend — 
that their knowledge of astronomy, or of other sci- 
ences, was beyond that of their Jewish contempora- — 
ries.- In these particulars they may have been greatly 
excelled by many at that day. 


The objection has no force -unless it refers to alt g 


leged errors in religious opinion. But even on this 

subject the objection is irrelevant unless it can be — 
shown that the errors in question would invalidate — 
their testimony to the facts which the Gospels record. 
If the question before us concerned the nature and 


limits of the ¢nspiration of the Apostles, it would be 


necessary to consider it, but not where the inquiry — 
is respecting the credibility of their testimony. 
It may be well, however, to refer to some points — 


ALLEGED ERRORS OF THE APOSTLES. 87 


having a close relation to religion, and in regard to 
which it is said that the Apostles were in error. 
eS One of these is the expectation of the 
Expectation x 

ofthe second speedy second coming of Christ. Let it 
3 be observed that they expressly affirm 
that the time of his second coming is not revealed. 
2 “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, not even the 
a angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father 
 only.”’ After the resurrection of Christ, when they 
asked him if he would then “restore the kingdom 
_ to Israel,” he gave this comprehensive answer: “It 
is not for you to know times or seasons which the 
* Father hath set within his own authority.”* The 
_ decision of all these questions was reserved by the 
E Father, and was not disclosed to man. We read 
in John’s Gospel that Jesus, speaking of John, said 
ia to Peter: “If I will that he tarry till I come, 
what is that to thee?”* This occasioned a report 
“among the brethren” that John “should not die.” 
- But this misconstruction of what Jesus had said is 
eorrected.* ‘‘ Suppose,” says Paley, ‘that this re- 
port had come down to us among the prevailing 
opinions of the early Christians, and that the par- 
_ ticular circumstance from which the mistake sprang 
had been lost (which, humanly speaking, was most 
likely to have been the case), some at this day would 


4 


'.  ! Matt. xxiv. 36. 2 Acts i. 7 (Revised Version). 
i — § John xxi, 22. 4 Verse 23. 


88 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


impeachment of the whole Christian system.” “Te — 
those who think that the Scriptures lead us to be- 
lieve that the early Christians, and even the Apos- 
tles, expected the approach of the day of judgment 
in their own times, the same reflection will occur as 
that which we have made with respect to the more 
partial, perhaps, and temporary, but still no less an- 
cient error, concerning the duration of St. John’s 
life. It was an error, it may be likewise said, which 
would effectually hinder those who entertained it 
from acting the part of impostors.” Those who 
think that the Apostles expected that Christ was to 


. \ 
Demoniacs. 


| 
come soon, should not be surprised to find traces of ; 
this personal expectation in their writings. Nor a 
ought they to be surprised if the influence of this . 
idea is found to tinge the abbreviated reports of the — 
predictive utterances of Christ which are presented | 
in the Gospels. | 
Another difficulty in the New Testament narra- a 
tives relates to what is said of demoniacs. It is ; 
represented that the souls of men were cI 
possessed by evil spirits, who inflicted on | 

them physical distempers—epilepsy, lunacy, ete. — | 
_ The opinion has been adopted by not a few Chris- 
tian scholars that the language of Christ on this — 
subject was uttered simply by way of accommoda- — 
tion to a prevalent belief, and in order to effect 


the cure of those who were under the influence of | 
it. In other words, he entered into the idea of the ai 


ar 


ALLEGED ERRORS OF THE APOSTLES. 89 


persons thus afflicted with disease—humored the 
delusion, as it were—as a means of causing their 
"recovery, and of assuring them of it. Their mis- 

taken belief was harmless, from a religious point 
of view, and Christ was under no obligation to dis- 
abuse them of it, any more than to instruct them 
on the causes of disease in general, and to clear 
_ their minds of other medical delusions. 

Christian scholars, to whom this solution is not 
_satistactory, are content to accept as real the fact 
of demoniacal possession at that epoch when the 
minds of men were oppressed and distracted by the 
“inward conflict with evil. It was an extraordinary 
crisis in the spiritual life of individuals and of 

society. Too little is known of the supernatural 
world to warrant a dogmatic denial of the possibil- 
ity of such an influence exercised by evil spirits. 

On either of the views just stated, it remains 
true that the facts concerning the cure of the so- 
Be ciitsony to called demoniacs, of their actual deliy- 
= peeroh erance from aggravated disorders, are au- 
= thenticated by the testimony. The ac- 
counts in the Gospels of the healing of persons of 

this class are among the most graphic passages in 
_these writings. They contain internal evidence of 
their verity. Of sucha character is the narrative of 
_ the madman of Gadara, who cut himself with stones, 
and made his abode among the tombs. Conversa- 
tions of Jesus, in connection with miracles of this 


t 


90 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


kind, conversations of unquestionable authenticity, : 
prove the reality of the principal facts with which — 
they are associated. 3 

Difficulties are sometimes raised in reference to- 
occasional interpretations of Old Testament pas- : 
Interpretation S88ES, which the Apostles introduce, or 
and reasoning. tg certain arguments which they employ. 
Such difficulties, supposing them to be we ell- — 
founded, do not affect the value of their testi- 
mony to facts. Some would contend that these 
difficulties have no ground to rest upon. Others 
would allow with Paley that we must “ distin-— 
guish between their [the Apostles’] doctrines and a 
their arguments. Their doctrines came to them — 
by revelation, properly so called; yet in propound- | 
ing these doctrines in their Se or discourses, | 
ties were wont to illustrate, support, and enforce 
them by such analogies, arguments, and considaa 
tions, as their own thoughts suggested.” Paleyh 
quotes from Bishop Burnet this remark: “ Whe 
divine writers argue upon any point, we are alway je 
bound to believe the conclusions their reasonings- 
end in; but we are not bound to be able to make 
out, or even to assent to, all the premises made use 
of by them, in their whole extent, unless it appears | 
plainly that they affirm the premises as expressl : 


as they do the conclusions proved by them.’ ” . 


1 Paley’s Evidences, P. III. ch. II. Burnet’s Exposition of the ’ 
Articles, Art. 6. Ks 


CHAPTER XI. 


_ Objections are frequently made to Christianity 
the ground of difficulties connected with the 
ld Testament, and with references to the Old Tes- 
ment books in the New Testament. 

- That the religion of the Old Testament is rec- 
ognized in the New as from God, and as having a 
vine sanction, distinguishing it from the religions 
Ge icla- of the Gentiles, is obvious. That Chris- 
‘fianity to Ju. tlanity has a genetic connection with the 
= religion of the Jews, is a ae matter of 


Jews and the ois systems of other nations, 
luding those of the same stock—as the Babylo- 


it by Jesus is well founded. The pure mono- 


ism, the character ascribed to God, the teaching 


t of devotion and of worship inspired by this 
m of faith, bear witness to its unique, super- 
ural source. 


92 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


Jesus appealed to prophetical passages in the Old 
Testament, as pointing to the kingdom which he] 
was to establish, and to the Messiah, its” 
the Old Teste, head. He lewowed moreover, the in- 
oe tention to cast ae on the priom | 
revelations of law and duty, made in times of old, 
to Moses and the prophets. All this a Christian. 
accepts both on the authority of Jesus as a teacher, | 
and on account of its inherent reasonableness. 
But neither Christ nor the Apostles took up ques: 
tions respecting the authorship and date of Old | 
ro Testament writings—such questions as 
Limits of the s| 
teaching of belong to historical and scholarly i inquir Ye 
; Oe refused to act as an umpire ina ; 
dispute about an inheritance, saying: “Who made. 
me a judge or divider over you?”’ This shows | 
how resolved he was to keep within the limits of 
his own distinctive calling, and not to step aside to. 
perform offices, which, even if they were not unim-_ 
portant, did not pertain to it. We have a right as 
Christians to rest on the declarations of Christ on 
questions respecting which he has pronounced judg | 
ROT reasons on which he professed to speak | 
‘as one having authority.” But we go too far | 
when we stake the truth of Christianity on the cor- : 
rectness of opinions concerning which no verdiol 


was intended to be pronounced by Christ or his 
Apostles. 


1 Duke xii. 14. 


Es 

‘RELATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TO THE OLD. 98 
. 

F . 


But Christ did teach emphatically the gradual- 
‘ness of divine revelation, and the consequent im- 
@ Bai: perfection of religious knowledge, and of 
ness of divine the knowledge ae duty under the old dis- 
feowelation. ‘ 5 

pensation. There was a Mosaic law re- 
‘specting divorce, which fell short of the Christian 
ideal. It was given, Christ taught, on account of 
‘the hardness of heart of the people, who were pre- 
pared for nothing better." He substituted for it 
another, more s stringent enactment. John the Bap- 
tist, he said, was interior to no prophet; yet the least 
Christian Foci was greater than he—was pos- 
sessed of more light, oe stood on a higher Pee 
: as regards the perception of God’s plans atid ways.’ 
The recollection of the gradualness of the revela- 
‘tion of God and of religious truth sets aside at once 
“numerous difficulties tan have been alleged re- 
-specting the teaching of the Old Testament Script- 
ures, as well as concerning the lives and the charac- 
ter of persons described and commended in them. 
Pa In truth, the connection of the faith of Israel 
with Christianity most impressively indicates the 
Mic pan ot | Olvine origin of the religion of Jesus. 
tory. We behold the long course of this his- 
torical movement—starting in the remote past, 
flowing onward, like a river, through all the cen- 
turies before Christ, until there it widens into a sea 
that spreads more and more, as the ages succeed 


1 Matt. xix. 8; Mark-x. 5. 2 Matt. xi. 11; Luke vii. 28 


Sia e tee ne cae ve Rt ¥ e4 Tiras i. en 
= . / Ni ey NR oy Se et ay tee ee 
‘ c - i pe 5 y ct y S a r. a Pd 2 > oe 
5 ee ae 4 an. as ae 
% 1 \ 7 


94°. CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


one another, over the surface of the globe. As 

birth of Christ divides history into two parts, so hi 
coming furnishes the clue to the understanding 
it. His offices of love and mercy to the race un 
the purpose of God, the interpretation of his pl 
as regards mankind, including Jew and Genti 
both before and since the ee: OF THE WORI 
appeared. To each branch of the human race, 
each of the nations of the earth, Providence assigne 
the place and the period of its existence, guid 
and training all, to the end that they might see 
after God, ail fulfil, each its allotted part, in 
world-wide kingdom which Chr ist was sent to 
seesires 


CHAPTER XIII. 


PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY FROM PROPHECY. 


_ Prophecy is a species of miracle. There are limits 
to the power of human foresight. The field beyond 
Nature of the 18 Open to conjecture, but is excluded from 
ergument. ~~ trustworthy prediction. Prophecy which 
‘is fulfilled under circumstances that forbid the sup- 
position of mere coincidence or accident, and the 
‘supposition that it causes its own fulfilment through 
some influence exerted by it, necessarily involves 
supernatural agency. Nothing else can account for 
the conformity of the event with the prediction. If 
it could be shown respecting one who utters predic- 
tions that in some instances they fail of accomplish- 
ment, even then the cases in which they are veri- 
fied, provided they cannot be resolved into fortunate 
guesses, prove that at certain times, or to a certain 
degree, he is gifted with superhuman foresight. 

_ The Old Testament contains a large predictive ele- 
ment. It might be said with truth that a stream of 
prophecy runs through the Old Testament 


7 ‘Hebrew people ever looked forward to a 
grand future for which the present was only a prepa- 


96 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


ration. There are three striking particulars in which 
this prophetic character of Old Testament teaching, 
and of the devotional utterances connected with 
it, appears. First, there is to be a great improve- 


+4 peel eam 


ment in the religion itself. It is to take on a 


purer, more spiritual form.’ Secondly, it is to have 
s world-wide predominance.” The heathen nations 


are to embrace it, or to be brought under its — 


sway. The whole earth is to acknowledge Jehovah. 
Thirdly, this spread and domination of the Old 
Testament religion is to be secured by the Messiah. 
A great leader, guide, prince is to appear, under 
whom the kingdom of God is to become universal. 
Righteousness and blessing are to attend its prog- 
ress. The prophetic pictures vary in form. Ele- 
ments derived from the kingdom of the Jews and 
from their religion in its then existing form natur- 
ally colored the anticipations and mingled in the 
visions of the seer and the saint. But these sub- 
ordinate features, in which prophecy varies from 
actual experience or accurately written history, do 


not lessen the profound impression which these pre- _ 


dictive declarations of the Old Testament, viewed 
in connection with what we know of Christ and of 
Christianity, are adapted to make. The insight of 
the prophets into the plan of God has been verified 


in the events of subsequent ages, down to the pres- _ 


ent time. 


1 Jeremiah xxxi. 31-35, 2Ferai2., ete. 


PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY FROM PROPHECY. 9% 


There was a class of prophets among the He- 
brews. To foretell future events was only an inci- 
The classof Cental, it was not the principal, function of 
prophets. their office. They professed to be called of 
God to instruct, to encourage, and to warn the people. 
They spoke with an eloquence which made men feel 
that they were animated by an influence from above, 
and that God spoke through them. This was true, 
for example, of the Prophet Isaiah. A part of their 
predictions cover the points referred to in the pre- 
ceding remarks. The coming perfection and glory 
of the kingdom, and of the Messiah its head, was 
their theme. But, besides these prophecies of a 
more general nature, there were uttered, in special 
exigencies, predictions of particular events 
in the near or more distant future. They 
were prophecies which did not spring from any 
statesmanlike sagacity or power of forecast. The 
prophets might be called from humble vocations in 
life. Amos was a herdsman. The prophetic insight, 
or foresight, went beyond the possible reach of hu- 
man calculation. An instance of prophecy of the 
kind here referred to is the predictions of Isaiah 
respecting the rapidly approaching downfall of the 
kingdoms of Israel and Syria, which had concluded 
an alliance with each other, and of the failure of 
their project against Judah.’ Another instance is 
Isaiah’s prophecy of the failure of the powerful 


Particular 
predictions. 


1 Tsaiah vii. 


98 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


army of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, in his 
siege of Jerusalem.’ Among the prophecies respect- 
ing the Messiah and his work, the passage in Isaiah 
concerning the servant of God is remarkable.” It 
contains verses which cannot refer to the people as a 
body, or to the pions kernel of the nation. Of such 
a character is verse 6: “‘ All we have gone astray ; 
we have turned every one to his own way; and the 
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The 
prophecy has reference to one individual, and its 
correspondence to the experience of Christ is close. 
That Jesus himself foretold the coming destruction 
of Jerusalem is proved by the testimony of the first 
three Evangelists. More impressive than the pre- 
diction of any single event is the foreknowledge he 


had of the spread of the Gospel and of the victory ‘ 


of his kingdom. It was to grow like the mustard- 


seed, and to spread its influence like the hidden — 


leaven. 


1Tsaiah xxxvii. 21 seq. 2 Isaiah lii. 13-liv. 


2 ae 


CHAPTER XIV. 


ARGUMENT FOR CHRISTIANITY FROM THE CONVERSION AND THE 
CAREER OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 


About four years after the crucifixion, Saul of 
Tarsus, a man of great ability and sincerity, who 
belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, was trained in 
a rabbinical school at Jerusalem, and was zealous in 


_ persecuting Christian disciples, was converted, and 


became the principal agent in planting the Gospel 
in the cities of the Roman Empire. His conversion 
was sudden. ‘It pleased God,” he says, “to reveal 
his Son in me, that I might preach him among 


_ the heathen.”’ The particulars of his conversion, 


when he was on the road to Damascus, on an errand 
of persecution, are related by Luke in the Acts. 


_ Miraculous circumstances attended it.’ 


It is impossible to account for this event by merely 
natural causes. The only theory of this nature which 
His tate of has been advanced is the one to which we 

oo have adverted on a preceding page “—the 
theory of hallucination. But, as we have said, his 


was not the state of mind out of which an illusion of 


this sort could be engendered. He expressly states 
1 Gal. i. 16. 2 Acts ix. 2 seq., xxii. 5 seq. 3 Page 83, 


100 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


that he had no misgivings in regard to the rectitude 
of the course he was pursuing. “J verily thought 
with myself that I ought to do many things contrary 
to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.”* He had been 
a persecutor, he tells us, but found mercy because he 
‘did it ignorantly, in unbelief.”* He was, to be 
sure, engaged ina hard, wearisome struggle to live up 
to his idea of legal righteousness. The yoke of the 
law pressed heavily upon him. This was a silent, un- 
conscious preparation for the relief which the Gospel 
was to afford; but the immediate effect of this con- 
scientious legalism was not to excite in him the least 
favor to the Christian cause, the least inclination to 
regard Jesus as the Messiah. The effect, on the con- 
trary, was to increase his zeal in putting down what 
he considered a wicked and baneful heresy. As we 
have remarked, the expression, “It is hard for thee 
to kick against the pricks,” does not imply, or re- 
motely suggest, the presence in his mind of com- 
punction or inward opposition to the work in which 


he was engaged. It was a proverbial expression, sig- 


nifying that he was embarked in a futile enterprise— — 
one that would not avail to crush the cause of Christ, — 
‘but would, the longer he persevered in it, harm — 
himself the more. The metaphor was taken from 
the conflict of oxen with the driver behind them, 
and their vain attempt to resist him by kicking 
against the goad. 
1 Acts xxvi. 9. 21 Tim. i. 13. 


: Change of 


PROOF FROM THE CONVERSION OF PAUL. 101 


To say that the occurrence which turned Paul 
from an ardent enemy to a devoted friend of the 
mais a cause of the Gospel was only “a vision ” 
“vision "? explains nothing. If it were only a vis- 
ion it would be necessary to show how a vision of 
that character could take place, save by supernatural 
agency. Dut it has been explained how the Apostle 
distinctly implies that the perception which he had 
of Christ at his conversion was of an entirely dif- 
ferent character from the disclosures which he sub- 
sequently had in apocalyptic visions.’ 

Besides the miracle involved, the conversion of 
Paul was a wonderful transformation of character. 
His whole aim in life was changed. 
character. Along with this revolution of purpose 
there arose within him new tempers of heart—the 
spirit of.humility and love, of patience and forgive- 
ness; in a word, the spirit of Christ. 

The result of that incident on the road to Damas- 


cus was the marvellous career of Paul as a preacher 
| of Christianity, and a most remarkable and success- 
ful propagator of the faith which he had been tram- 
| r pling under foot. How different would the history 


of Europe have been, how different the history of 
mankind, had the labors of Paul as an apostle of the 


_ Cross never been performed ! 


It is important to add that the Apostle Paul him- 


‘self wrought miracles. We have his word for it, 


ECOL, KVaLos 


102 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


and no one doubts his truthfulness. In the Epistle 
to the Romans, he explicitly refers to “the mighty 
signs and wonders” which Christ had 
wrought by him.’ So he reminds the 
Corinthians, in his Second Epistle to them, of “the 
signs and wonders and mighty deeds” which had 
been wrought by him before their eyes.” They were 
“sions” of the Apostle;” that is, of the Apostolic 
office. Now we find that the direction to work 
miracles was in the commission given by Christ to 
the Apostles.’ It cannot reasonably be doubted that 
the miracles of Paul and of the other Apostles were 
consciously done in pursuance of this commission. 
It is safe to conclude that Jesus himself professed to 
work miracles, and that the Apostles, in this par- 
ticular, had not only his precept, but his example 
before them. 


Miracles. 


1 Rom. xv. 19. 22 Cor. xii. 12. 
8 Matt. x. 1, 8; Mark iii. 15, etc. 


a 


EY AR RE er) ee 


Lm Sse 
; 


CHAPTER. XV. 


PROOF OF THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE 
INTRINSIC EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM, 


In paving the way for the consideration of the 
evidence for miracles, prominent peculiarities of 
Christianity, including the character of Jesus, were 
touched upon. Brief additional observations will 
here be made on leading features of the Gospel. 

The Christian conception of God represents him 
as a being who unites with infinite power and wis- 
dom the moral attributes of holiness and 
love. He does not, as in the creed of 
Deism, stand apart from the world, nor is he, as in 
the creed of Pantheism, identified with it. He is 
immanent in the world, present with his all-pervad- 
ing energy, “not far from any one of us,” yet per- 
sonal, acquainted with all our thoughts, 
and hearing prayer. Man is declared to 
be made in the image of God, and qualified, there- 
fore, for conscious intercourse and fellowship with 
him. Moral evil is not confounded with physical 
evil, or made its product, but is traced 
back to the voluntary separation of man- 
kina. from God, and to the consequent rule in their 


God. 


Man. 


Sin. 


104 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


nature of propensities which ought to be kept sub- 
ordinate. In the recovery of mankind, “the axe is 

laid at the root of the tree.” In the Re- 

storer, Jesus Christ, God is manifested, 
and, at the same time, the ideal of human perfec- 
tion is realized. God is re-connected with mankind. 
Reconciliation is effected in a way that brings no 
cloud upon the holiness of the divine character and 
government. In Christ, the life of communion with 
pie St the divine Father, and of peace in that re- 
Slane invent lation, is maintained in the conflict with 

temptation, in the face of the world’s 
hatred, and on the cross. That inward life is com- 
municated to all who are attracted to him as dis- 
ciples and followers. It is nourished within them 
by the invisible Spirit, replacing his visible pres- 
ence. In the new relation to Christ, and through 
him to the Father, they detach themselves from 
every earthly object regarded as an idol, or an in- 
dispensable good, and thus gain strength to endure 
“the loss of all things.” They form a community 


Christ. 


of the children of God, drawing within itself all. 


who aspire after the life of sonship and of oneness 
with the Father. Life on the earth becomes a 
school for the training of the soul for a higher state 


of existence in the future. To them, all suffering 


is the chastisement of a Father, and death is a door 
of access to a heavenly abode. The entire course 
of events, including the most minute, is ordered of 


PROOF FROM THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 105 


God, so that all things work together for good to 
them that love him. 

To use the world, and not abuse it, to enjoy the 
world without being a slave to it, is the Christian’s 
hehe privilege. An excessive value is to be 
not ascetic. attached to no form of earthly happiness ; 
but, on the other hand, asceticism, together with a 
cynical contempt for human relations and pleasures, 
is equally precluded. 

Christianity is a religion of principles, not of 
rules. In the room of specific and minute pre- 
ei cepts, it sets forth the great ends with 
eet reference to which conduct is to be shaped. 

But within these bounds the individual 
is left, for the most part, to be guided by his own 
intelligence and moral sense. The aim is to mould 
aright the leading motives of action, so that a man 
shall be a law to himself, and spontaneity shall take 
the place of legal restraint. The supreme law is 
affirmed to be love, than which no higher or more 
comprehensive principle of action can be imagined. 


Discipleship is not a literal imitation of Christ, a 


copying of his particular actions, but rather the liv- 
ing appropriation of his spirit. No type of goodness 
more worthy can be conceived of than the one pre- 
sented in the actual life of Jesus. 

Christianity is adapted to be the re éligion of the 
world. It has all the requisites of a Hace re- 


q ligion. It teaches the equality of the race before 


106 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


God, the brotherhood of mankind, the common de 
pravity of men, and the consequent common need 
Pho: of forgiveness and of deliverance from 
adapted to sin, The salvation provided in the Gos- 

pel is suited, not to any single nation or 
to any branch of the human family exclusively, but 
equally to every member of the race. In the com- 
munity of Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
bond nor free, male nor female.* The “good news” 
of the love of God to the ill-deserving is to be car- 
ried to “every creature.” With the proclamation 
of human guilt and sin, there are carried the tidings 
of an atonement, of pardon, of the means of puri- 
fication. 

Can a religion having this lofty character and 
this adaptation to the world be attributed to the 
Galilean laborers who were concerned in the first 
teaching of it? Can it be considered as the off- 
spring of merely human purity and wisdom ? 

1 Gal, iii. 28; Col. iii, 11, 


ne 


CHAPTER XVI. 


PROOF AFFORDED BY THE CONTRAST OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 
OTHER RELIGIONS AND WITH PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS. 


Christianity, when it is compared with the other 
religions of the world, is seen to be the one true, or 
absolute religion. It is free from the defects that 
belong to them. It supplies the elements which are 
missing in them. It fills out what is wanting in an 
inchoate system, true in its foundations, but incom- 
plete, as was the religion of the Old Testament. 

The religion of the ancient Persians, the worship- 
pers of light, who professed to derive their faith 
The Zoroas. from Zoroaster, divided the empire of the 
trian religion. \or]d between two antagonistic deities. 
The creed was dualism, a theory that also mingles 
itself in the Pantheistic religions of India. Con- 
fucius, the sage of China, was a moral- 
ist. Je was the author of ethical and 
political precepts not without value, but he made 
no claim to reveal things invisible. It is often said 
that the golden rule is found in Confucius. But in 
Originality op Him, and in every other ethnic writer to 
the Gospel. = Whom it is ascribed, it occurs either in 
a negative form, or merely in some particular rela- 


Confucius. 


108 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


tion—for example, as defining the duty of the parent 
to the child. The same thing is true of the golden 
rule as it is found in the Rabbis. Two or three sen- 
tences of the Lord’s Prayer appear to have existed 
in earlier Jewish forms of devotion. The originality 
of Jesus is seen in the addition of these to the other 
petitions, and the union of all in a living whole; 
just as the golden rule acquires a deeper meaning 
when it is coupled with his teaching on what man 
ought to desire for himself and to count as the true 
good. But the originality of the Gospel lies especial- 
ly in the relation of its moral precepts to religious 
doctrine, and to the new life which is implanted 
through the connection of the believer with Christ. 

The only two religions, besides the religion of 
Christ, which can pretend to the character of univer- 
Mohamme-  Sality, are Mohammedanism and Buddh- 
eae ism. Mohammedanism derived its mate- 
rials from Rabbinical sources, and thus, indirectly, 
from the Old Testament revelation. In its ear- 
nest faith in the unity of God, and in its protest 
against idolatry, it was in sympathy with the teach- 
ing of the Bible. In these doctrines, heartily em- 
braced, lay the secret of the power of Islam, as far 
as that power was legitimate. But there were two 
grand defects in its theology. There was no such 


exaltation of the love of God, the highest attribute — 


of his character, as the Bible contains; and there 
was no room for the unfolding of a grander future, 


lt 


Sap ee Se 


Pa elie TEP Oe ey Fee OND ee 


CHRISTIANITY AND OTHER SYSTEMS. 109 


such as the Messianic hope of the Old Testament 
involved. The moral code of Islam includes a sanc- 
tion of polygamy and slavery. The desire of sensual 
gratification enters into the hope of paradise, and 
this reward is held out as one motive to the be- 
liever. Under Mohammedanism, woman can never 
rise above a degraded condition, or approach that 
equality with man which Christianity has secured 
for her. Mohammedanism is a religion to be propa- 
gated by force, the employment of which for the 
overcoming of error Christianity forbids. It is, 
moreover, the religion of the letter. The disciple 
is forever bound to observe all the special precepts 
of the Koran. There is only a nominal and igno- 
rant recognition of Christ. The elevating and con- 
soling influences which, to the Christian mind, con- 
nect themselves with the name of Jesus, are want- 
ing in the creed of the Mohammedan devotee. 

Owing to these characteristics of Islam it is not 
capable of advancing the nations that embrace it 
beyond a certain stage of progress. There civiliza- 
tion, all that pertains to the higher life of man, is 
petrified in immovable forms, or gives way to de- 
crepitude and decay. 

Buddhism inculeated certain virtues. It enjoined 
self-conquest and universal kindness. It laid down 
a number of special precepts which resem- 
ble injunctions of the New Testament. 
But these moral rules are linked in Buddhism with 


Buddhism. 


110 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


a system of Pantheism and with the exhortation to 
renounce the desire of a future life. The doctrine 
of “ Karma” involves no such thing as continued 
personal identity and immortality. Nirvana, the 
state of bliss, is tranquillity here, and extinction, as 
far as identity of consciousness is concerned, here- 
after. Buddhism promised a release from the bur- 
dens of caste and the dread of transmigration. This 
negative good was the boon which it offered, and 
accounts for its progress in the land of its origin. 
But the Buddhistic religion brought in an ascetic, a 
monkish system hardly less fruitful of misery than 
the two-fold curse which it aimed to displace. ‘In 
it we have an ethical system but no lawgiver, a 
world without a creator, a salvation without eternal 
life, and a sense of evil but no conception of par- 
don, atonement, reconciliation, or redemption.” ' 
In-ancient times there were systems of philos- 
ophy which sought to afford light and solace to the 
minds of men. Socrates, the best of the 
heathen teachers, although he believed in 
a supreme Deity, still held also to ‘lords many and 
gods many,” and mingled with the hope 
of another life an admixture of doubt. 
He felt the need of some sure “word of God” to 
guide us in the right way.’ Plato taught 
that virtue is likeness to God according 
to the measure of human power; but his concep- 


*'T. W. Rhys Davids, in Non-Christian Religions, p.181. %Apol. 21. 


Philosopby. 


Socrates, 


Plato, 


Bea ae ae” 


Pa ae ay ere Fe nee) See 


CHRISTIANITY AND OTHER SYSTEMS. 11] 


tion of God, both as to his natural and moral at- 
tributes, fell decidedly below that of Christian the- 
ism. Moreover, to the question how to attain te 
such a resemblance to God, how to conquer the evil 
within us, he could give no satisfactory answer. He 
mistook the source of moral evil, which he made to 
be chiefly ignorance; and philosophy, which he con- 
ceived of as the proper remedy for such a malady, 
he held that only a few were competent to under- 
stand. The two systems most in vogue when the 
Gospel was first preached in the Roman Empire 
were Epicureanism and Stoicism. It was Epicure- 
ans and Stoics who encountered the Apostle Paul 
Pence ob Athens. The Epicureans disconnected 
ae the gods from all concern with the af- 
fairs of men. They were practically atheists. They 
made the sum of human virtue to be a self-regard- 
ing prudence. Stoicism was a nobler sys- 


The Stoics. ae 
tem. It enjoined, as the source of peace, 


resignation to the divine will; but that divine will 
_ was indistinguishable from fate, and the repose of 


mind of the Stoic sage was gained at the cost of 
quelling and chilling the natural emotions. In the 
room of fellowship with Zeus, the Supreme One, 
the thing aimed at was an independence of Zeus, a 
prond self-reliance. Suicide was held to be lawful, 


and might be expedient ; for notwithstanding all 


that was said of the wise order of the world, there 
1 Acts xvii. 18. 


112 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


were situations, it was thought, when a man was 
bound by self-respect to put an end to his own life. 
In the Stoic system, there was no rational motive 
for the existence of the world. There was no good 
to be attained by the divine Providence of which 
the Stoic spoke; for all things were to issue in a 
universal conflagration. 

In contrast with all the ancient systems of phi- 
losophy, Christianity brought forward such a con- 
Sette ception of God that the precept to be 
aaa pills like him was intelligible and could be 

profitably obeyed. It brought forward 
the truth of a Providence of God, extending over 
all persons and events, a universal care compre- 
hending the least of God’s creatures, and causing 
all things to conspire to promote the well-being of 
his children. Natural sensibility is not petrified. 
Natural emotions and affections are left in healthy 
activity, but trust in the fatherly love and wisdom 
of God enables the afflicted to be at peace. More- 
over, in distinction from all other religions and phi- 
losophies, Christianity provides redemption. That 
is to say, while it holds up the ideal of perfection, 
the law of righteousness, it provides, at the same 
time, effectual means of attaining, through Jesus 
Christ, to the partial, and ultimately to the com- 
plete, realization of it. | 

When the incomparable superiority of the Chris- 
tian system over the other religions of the world 


ee 


CHRISTIANITY AND OTHER SYSTEMS. 113 


and over the highest achievements of philosophy 
_ is duly appreciated, it appears unreasonable to think 
that Christianity sprang from the unaided intel- 
ligence of the humble, unlettered Hebrews who 
were the instruments of publishing its truths to 
the world. 


CHAPTER XVIL 


CORROBORATIVE PROOF OF THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY 
FROM ITS UTILITY. 


As pernicious tendencies and consequences would 
prove that a religion is false, so a demonstrated 
beneficence -is evidence, not without weight, that 
the system of religion having this tendency and ef- 
fect is true. It is said of certain heathen religions 
and of Mohammedanism that they are productive 
of good. This is conceded up to a certain degree. 
This result may be attributed to elements of truth 
which they contain. But Christianity differs in be- 
ing useful without any drawback, and to an extent 
wholly without parallel. 

Christ styled his followers “the light of the 
world” and “the salt of the earth.” This they 
Lightana proved themselves to be. They failed 
— then, as afterwards, to live up to the 
standard of Christian character and conduct. Never- 
theless, Christianity illuminated the world, pouring 
a flood of light on man and his relations to God, on 
human duties, and the design and issues of our life 
on earth. And Christianity powerfully and effectu- 


THE UTILITY OF CHRISTIANITY. 115 


ally counteracted the tendencies to demoralization 
and ruin. It rescued society from the decay and 
moral putrefaction into which it was rapidly sink- 
ing. In the midst of a falling world, it planted the 
seeds of a better civilization. 

Christianity asserted the incalculable worth of 
every human soul. It declared that no individual 
Effects of is made to be the mere instrument of 
Chnistianity. another’s gratification. The welfare of 
every individual is an end in itself. Jlence the 
Gospel insisted on the equality of all men before 
God. At the same time, self-sacrifice was made 
the supreme duty and was declared to be the source 
of the highest blessedness to him who practises it. 
These principles were the foundation of liberty and 
the fountain of beneficence. Not only was the ideal 
of virtue set forth; new, inspiring motives to the 
practice of it were presented in the mission and ex- 
ample of Jesus. The result of the influence of Chris- 
tianity was the purification of domestic life. The 
rigor of paternal authority was softened. The wife 
and mother was elevated to her true place. Chris- 
tianity has raised woman from degradation. It has 
improved, in a corresponding measure, the lot of 
children. It has immeasurably improved the con- 
dition of the laboring classes, by insisting that they 
shall have their just dues. The poor and unfortu- 
nate became objects of compassion and recipients of 
practical aid in multiform ways. Christianity pro- 


116 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


moted civil liberty. It inculcated loyalty, but put 
an end to the unqualified domination of the State. 
While the magistrate was to be obeyed as the minis- 
ter of God, he was to be disobeyed if he enjoined 
anything against the divine law. The process began 
of conforming civil law to the requirements of jus- 
tice. “Stranger” was no longer the synonym of 
“enemy.” International law has taken on a new 
character under the influence of the Christian re- 
ligion, in which are recognized the rights of nations, 
even the weakest. The spirit of charity, no longer 
confined by the bounds of nation and kindred, em- 
braces all mankind. Such were the inherent ten- 
dencies, and such has been the actual power of 
Christianity, that its effect on the individual was 
properly styled “a new creation.”’ One looking at 
the influence of Christianity in the first centuries 
after it appeared, and in the ages following to the 
present time, sees the result of that revolution in 
personal character, of which the Apostle said: ‘‘The 
old things are passed away; behold, they are be- 
come new.” 

The transforming effect of Christianity is the 
miracle of history. A religion adequate to the pro- 
duction of such beneficent results inust have God 
for its author. 


12 Cor. v. 17 (Revised Version). 


Bay x, 
— ly ee ae oe 


>of 


ee Se ee RS a Pe PF 


CHAPTER XVII. 


CORROBORATIVE PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY FROM ITS RAPID 
SPREAD IN THE FIRST CENTURIES. 


The rapid progress of a religion may be owing 
to the indulgence granted by it to immoral prac- 
tices, or to the use of force in the dissemination of 
it. In this way the victories of Islam are partly to 
be accounted for. Or the spread of a religion may 
be caused by the hope inspired of a deliverance from 
grievous burdens imposed by a religious system pre- 
viously dominant, even although the new faith is 
not, on the whole, of an ennobling character. This 
explains the progress of Buddhism in India; while 
the ready junction or identification of Buddhism 


with the existing religions of China and Japan gave 


it a free course in those countries. 

To neither of these causes was the surprising con- 
quest of the Roman Empire by the Christian faith 
Selfdenia) ue. It was at variance with the selfish, 
required. national ambition of the Jews, with their 


a tenacious clinging to their ritual, and with their 


bigoted assumption of superiority over every other 


people. The Gospel demanded of the heathen the 


118 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


renunciation of all their objects of worship, of all the 
employments and amusements that invoived partici- 
pation in the ancestral and legal forms of devotion. 
More than this, it required inexorably the forsaking 
of every species of immorality, and the subjugation 
of every desire for forbidden pleasures. It was sup- 
ported by no influential class—not by the rich, or 
learned, or those holding high social or official sta- 
tions. By these generally, it was regarded with dis- 
dain. Christians were objects of popular contempt. 
Soon severe laws were enforced against them, and 
they became victims both of legal and of mob vio- 
lence. To become a Christian was to expose one’s 
self to the “loss of all things.” Yet notwithstand- 
ing all these requirements and all these exposures, 
Christianity continued to make converts rapidly, 
until it became clear that Roman imperial authority 
was not strong enough to extirpate the new faith 
or to stay its advance. At length, in the space of 
a few centuries, the altars of heathenism were de- 
serted, and the last vestiges of heathen worship 
passed away. 

The proximate causes of this rapid progress, Gib- 
bon makes to be five: The zeal of the early Chris- 
Gibbonon tans, Which he represents to have been 
the progress derived from the Jews, but to have been 
i purged of Jewish narrowness; the doc- 
trine of a future life of rewards and punishments ; 
the power of working miracles, ascribed to the 


THE RAPID SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 119 


primitive Church ; the pure and austere morals of 
the Christians, and the union and discipline of the 
Christian republic—the ecclesiastical community. 
But these causes are distinct from one another. 
How, it has been pertinently asked, did they come 
to be combined in the same persons? How shall 
we account for this coincidence? Mow, for exam- 
ple, did zeal come to be cleared of narrowness? and 
how happened this ardor, mixed with liberality, to 
be associated with the Christian doctrine respecting 
the future life? Then it is obvious that these causes 
are, one and all, the effect of Christianity—ingredi- 
ents of the Gospel or its natural consequences. The 
solution, therefore, amounts to this, that the cause 
of the rapid diffusion of Christianity was Christian- 
ity itself, or qualities inhering in it. 

This is in effect the solution of a more recent 
writer who has undertaken to make clear the causes 
of the conversion of Rome.’ It was not the alleged 
miracles ; it was not, in any considerable degree, the 
reasoning from prophecy, which achieved the great 
conguest.’ It was “the elements of power and at- 
traction” which the new religion combined. These 
were its freedom from “local ties;” its strong ap- 
peal to the affections; its “‘pure and noble system 
of ethics ;” its doctrine of the brotherhood of man, 
and of “the supreme sanctity of love.” To the 


1 Lecky: History of European Morals from Augustus to Charle- 
magne, vol, i., p. 409 seq. 2 P, 409. 


yet 


Ps 


120 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 


philosopher it was at once “the echo of the highest 
ethics of the later Stoics, and the expansion of the 
best teaching of the school of Plato.” To a world 
weary of lower ideals, Christianity presented “an 
ideal of compassion and love—an ideal destined for 
centuries to draw around it all that was greatest, as 
well as all that was noblest upon earth—a Teacher 
who could weep by the sepulchre of his friend, who 
was touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”! 
“The chief cause of its success was the congruity 
of its teaching with the spiritual nature of man- 
kind.” ‘It planted its roots so deeply in the hearts 
of men,” “ because it corresponded with their relig- 
ious wants, alms, and emotions, because the whole 
spiritual being could then expand and expatiate 
under its influence.” The author who has thus 
traced the early triumph of Christianity mainly to 
its own inherent, exalted characteristics, leaves un- 
solved the problem of the origin of a system whose 
power sprang from its transcendent worth. Those 
who believe, with a living faith, in a personal Goa 
will not find it unreasonable to accept the explana- 
tion which the New Testament presents, and refer 
this world-transforming Gospel to divine revela- 


tion. | 
1 P, 412, 


% 


& Be Arey 


INGE exe 


AcTS, genuineness of the, 62 

Alogi, 64 

Apostles, the, not victims of hal- 
lucination, 44; their  trust- 
worthiness, 70 seq.; their can- 
dor, 71 seq. ; their sobriety, 79 ; 
tested by sufferings, 79; their 
alleged errors in doctrine, 86 
seq. ; their views on the Second 
Advent, 85; their interpreta- 
tions and reasonings, 90 


BARNABAS, the Epistle of, its 
quotations from Matthew, 55 

Baur, F. C., 85 

Buddhism, 109 

Burnet, Bishop, 90 

Byron, 24 


CELSUS, 69 

Christ, his character, 32, 81; his 
perfection, 35; not self-de- 
ceived, 36; his sanction of the 
Old Testament religion, 92; 
limits of his teaching, 92. See 
‘* Resurrection ”’ 

Christianity, the needs met by it, 
25-seq.; admitted facts of, 28 ; 


its rapid spread, 29; its influ- 
ence, 380; its divine origin 
shown by the character of 
Christ, 32; its leading features, 
103 seq. ; a religion of princi- 
ples, 105; a religion for the 
world, 106; contrasted with 
other systems, 107 seq. ; proof 
from its utility, 114 seq. ; proof 
from its rapid spread, 117 seq. 
Church, the Christian, its rise, 30 


DEMONIACS, 86 


EPICUREANISM, I11 

Evidence, historical, its nature, 
4; probable and demonstrative, 
5; cumulative, 5; internal and 
external, 6; the affections, a 
source of, 7 


GENUINENESS of a_ book, its 
meaning, 3 

Gibbon, on the spread of Chris- 
tianity, 118 ~ 

God, his benevolence, 24 

Gospels, their genuineness, 47 
seq.; Ireneus respecting the, 


122 


48 seq. ; Justin Martyr’s use of 
them, 50 seq. ; Tatian’s use of 
them, 53; references to them in 
Polycarp, 54; in ‘‘ The Teach- 
ing,” etc., 55; the witness of 
the ancient versions to the, 56; 
internal evidence for the, 69 
seq. ; local references in the, 
61; mystical theory respecting 
the, 73; alleged discrepancies in 
the, 74; their testimony to the 
resurrection of Christ, 82 seq. 
See the Gospels severally 


HORACE, 24 

Hume, his argument against mir- 
acles, 15 seq. 

Huxley, on Hume’s argument, 17 


INSPIRATION, what is it ? 2 

Trenzus, his witness to the Gos- 
pels, 48 seq.; his relation to 
Polycarp, 49, 65 


Jews, their religion, 28 

John the Baptist, 28; performed 
no miracles, 40 

John, the Gospel of, used by Jus- 
tin, 53; its relation to the first 
three Gospels, 63; local refer- 
ences in, 65; the author’s way 
of disclosing himself, 66; at- 
‘testation at the end of, 67; not 
written ‘oy disciples of John, 
68; a kind of autobiography, 
68. See ‘‘ Gospels” 

Josephus, 28 

Justin Martyr, his witness to the 
Gospels, 50 seq.; to John’s Gos- 
pel, 53 


INDEX. 


Lecky, on the early progress of 
Christianity, 119 
Luke, an attendant of Paul, 61 
Luke, the writings of, 61. 
‘‘ Gospels” and “ Acts” 


See 


Mark, the Gospel of, Papias on, 
57. See ‘‘ Gospels” 

Matthew, the Gospel of, quoted 
in Barnabas, 55; Papias on 57. 
See ‘‘ Gospels” 

Mill, J. S., his comment on Hume’s 
argument, 16 

Miracles, definition of, 9; tern’s 
for, in the New Testament, 10; 
not without a cause, 11; Hume’s 
argument against, 15; prove 
design, 18; can evil spirits per- 
form them? 18; their relation, 
as proofs, to doctrine, 18; the 
sinlessness of Jesus, one of 
them, 35; presupposed in the 
teaching of Christ, 37 seq.; hea- 
then and ecclesiastical, 76 seq.; 
wrought by Paul, 101 

Mohammedanism, 108 

Mythical theory, 73 


OLp TESTAMENT system, its re- 
lation to Christianity, 91; its 
prophetic character, 95 seq. 


Pary, 75, 90; on the need of 
Revelation, 22 

Papias, his account of Mark and 
Matthew, 57 

Paul, his witness to the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus, 41 seq.; his con- 
version, miraculous, 42 seq., 99 
seq.; wrought miracles, 101 

Plato, 110 


PE or te ee 


ss 


oa aa 


INDEX. 


Polycarp, h‘s relat:on to Irenzus, 
49, 65; quotes from Matthew 
and John, 54 

Presumption, logical, its meaning, 
21 

Prophecy, proof from, 95 seq. 


RANAN, 37, 65 

Resurrection of Jesus, testimony 
of Paul respecting it, 41 seq.; 
proved from the Evangelists, 
82 seq. 

Revelation, antecedent probability 
of, 22; the need of, 23 seq.; the 


need of, met by Christianity, 25 


1238 

Socrates, 110 

Stoicism, 111 

Strauss, D. F., 37, 73 

TATIAN, his ‘‘ Diatessaron,” 53 

‘“Teaching of the XII Apostles,” 
as a witness to the Gospels, 55 


UniFormirty of nature, 13 


VERSIONS, the ancient, their wit 
ness to the Gospels, 56 


ZOROASTER, 107 


CHURCH’ HISTORY. 


I THE BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. With a View of the 
State of the Roman World at the Birth of Christ. By 
GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Church 
y History in Yale College. 8vo, $2.50. 

le THE BOSTON ADVERTISER.—“ Prof. Fisher has displayed in this, as in his 
. previous published writings, that catholicity and that calm judicial quality of 
/ mind which are so indispensable to a true historical critic.” 

I THE EXAMINER.—The volume is not a dry repetition of well-known facts. 
' {t bears the marks of original research. Every page glows with freshness of 
material and choiceness of diction.” 

_ THE EVANGELIST.—‘“ The volume contains an amount of information that 
- makes it one of the most useful of treatises for a student in philosophy and 
theology, and must secure for it a place in his library as a standard authority.” 
“HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. By GEORGE P. 
FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History in 
Yale University. 8vo, with numerous maps; $3.50. 


This work is in several respects notable. It gives an able presenta- 
tion of the subject in a single volume, thus supplying the need of a 
complete and at the same time condensed survey of Church History. 
_ It will also be found much broader and more comprehensive than other 
books of the kind. The following will indicate its aim and scope. 


A FROM THE PREFACE.—‘ There are two particulars in which I have sought 
_ to make the narrative specially serviceable. In the first place the attempt has 
' been made to exhibit fully the relations of the history of Christianity and of the 
Church to contemporaneous secular history. x #* * J have tried to bring out 
f ‘more distinctly than i3 usually donc the interaction of events and changes in the 
‘political sphere, with the phenomena which belong more strictly to the ecclesiasti- 
cal and religious province. In the second place it has seemed to me possible to 
‘present a tolerably complete survey of the history of theological doctrine. * * * 
“It has appeared to me better to express frankly the conclusions to which my 
investigations have led me, on a variety of topics where differences of opinion 
exist, than to take refuge in ambiguity or silence. Something of the dispassionate 
temper of an onlooker may be expected to result from historical studies if long 
pursued ; nor is this an evil, if there is kept alivea warm sympathy with the spirit 
of holiness and love, wherever it is manifest. 
‘Ag this book is designed not for technical students exclusively, but for intei- 
_ ligent reader's generally, the temptation to enter into extended and minute disens- 
gions on perplexed or controverted topics has been resisted.” 


STANDARD TEXT BOOKS. 


SE 


HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. By PHILIP SCHAFF, 
D.D. New Edition, re-written and enlarged. Vol. l.—Apos* 
tolic Christianity, A.D, 1-100. Vol. Il.—Ante-Nicene Chris 
tianity, A.D. 100-325. Vol. IIll.—Nicene and Post-Nicene 
Christianity, A.D. 311-600. Vol. IV.—Medizval Christianity, 
A.D. 590—1073. 8vo, price per vol., $4.00. 


This work is extremely comprehensive. All subjects that properly 
belong to a complete sketch are treated, including the history of Chris- 
tian art, hymnology, accounts of the lives and chief works of the 
Fathers of the Church, etc. The great theological, christological, and ~ 
anthropological controversies of the period are duly sketched ; and in~ 
all the details of history the organizing hand of a master is distinctly 
seen, shaping the mass of materials into order and system. 


FROF. GEO. P. FISHER, of Yale College.—‘ Dr. Schaff has thoroughly and- 
successfully accomplished his task. The volumes are replete with evidences of 3 
careful study of the original sources and of an extraordinary and, we might say, 
wnsurpasscd acquaintance with the modern literature—German, French, and 
English—in the department of ecclesiastical history. They are equally marked by 
a fair-minded, conscientious spirit, as well as by a lucid, animated mode of 
presentation.” 

PROF. ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK, D.D.—‘In no other single work of 
its kind with which I am acquainted will students and general readers find so 
much to instruct and interest them.” 

CR. JUL. MULLER, of Halle.—*It is the only history of the first six cen- 
turies which truly satisfies the wants of the present age. It is rich in results of 
criginal investigation.” 


HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, IN CHRONOLOGI- 
CAL TABLES. A Synchronistic View of the Events, Charac- 
teristics, and Culture of each period, including the History of | 
Polity, Worship, Literature, and Doctrines, together with two 
Supplementary Tables upon the Church in America; and an 
Appendix, containing the series of Councils, Popes, Patri 

~archs, and other Bishops, and a full Index. By the late 

HENRY B. SMITH, D.D., Professor in the Union Theologis 
cal Seminary of the City of New York. Revised Editions 
Folio, $5.00. 

REV. DR. W. G. T. SHEDD.—‘‘ Prof. Smith’s Historical Tables are .—. best 
¢hat I know of in any language. In preparing such a work, with so much care and 
research, Prof. Smith has furnished to the student an apparatus that will be of 
life-long service to him” : 

REV. DR. WILLIAM ADA™S.—“ The labor expended upon such a work is 


immense, and its accuracy and completeness do honor to the research and 
ycholarship of its author, aad are an invaluable acquisition to our literature.” 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS’ 


LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH CHURCH, By 
ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D. With Naps and Plans. 
New Edition from New Plates, with the author’s latest revis« 
ion. Part 1—From Abraham to Samuel. Part I!.—From. 
Samuel to the Captivity. Part IIl.—From the Captivity to 
the Christian Era. Three vols., 12mo (sold separately), each 
$2.00. ; 


s The same—Westminster Edition. Three vols., 8vo (sald in sets 
only), per set, $9.00. 


LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF THE EASTERN CHURCH. 
With an introduction on the Study of Ecclesiastical History. 
By ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D. New Edition from 
New Plates. 12mo, $2.00. 


LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOT: 
LAND. By ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D. 8vo, $1.50. 


In all that concerns the external characteristics of the scenes and 
persons described, Dr. Stanley is entirely at home. His books are not 
dry records of historic events, but animated pictures of historic scenes 
and of the actors in them, while the human motives and aspects of 
events are brought out in bold and full relief. 


THE LONDON CRITIC.—‘‘ Earnest, eloquent, learned, with a style that is 
never monotonous, but luring through its eloquence, the lectures will maintain 
his fame as author, scholar, and divine. We could point out many passage3 that 

glow with a true poetic fire, but there are hundreds pictorially rich and poetically 
true. The reader experiences no weariness, for in every page and paragraph 
- there is something to engage the mind and refresh the soul.” 


ARIS shi LS j 


THE NEW ENGLANDER.—“ We have first to express our admiration of the 
grace and grapbic beauty of his style. The felicitous discrimination in the uce 
of language which appears on every page is especially required on these topics, 
where the author’s position might so easily be mistaken through an unguarded 
statement. Dr. Stanley is possessed of the prime quality of an historical student 
and writer—namely, the historical feeling, or sense, by which conditions of life 

and types of character, remote from our present experience, are vividly cone 
ceived of and truly appreciated.” 


: THE N. Y. TIMES.—‘‘The Old Testament History is here presented as it 
- hever was presented before; with so much clearness, elegance of style, and his- 
i toric and literary illustration, not to speak of learning and calmness of judgment, 
that not theologians alone, but also cultivated readers generally, are drawn to its 
pages. In point of style it takes rank with Macaulay’s History and the bes¢ 
chapters of Froude.” 


\ 


HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 


THE DAWN OF HISTORY. An Introduction to Pre-Historic 
Study. ‘New and revised edition. Edited by C. F. KEARY. 
12mo, $1.25. 


This work treats successively of the earliest traces of man in the 
remains discovered in caves or elsewhere in different parts of Europe ; 
of language, its growth, and the story it tells of the pre-historic users 
of it ; of the races of mankind, early social life, the religions, mythol- 
ogies, and folk-tales of mankind, and of the history of writing. The 
present edition contains more than a hundred pages of new matter, in 
which are embodied the results of the latest researches, 


BOSTON SAT. EVE. GAZETTE.—‘‘A fascinating manual, without a vestige 
of the dullness usually charged against scientific works. In its way, the work is 
a model of what a popular scientific work should be.” 


THE ORIGIN OF NATIONS. By Professor GEORGE RAWLIN: 
SON, M.A. 12mo, with maps, $1.00. 

The first part of this book, Early Civilizations, discusses the an- 

tiquity of civilization in Egypt and the other early nations of the East, 

The second part, Ethnic Affinities in the Ancient World, is an examin- 


ation of the ethnology of Genesis, showing its accordance with the 
latest results of modern ethnographical science. 


CONGREGATIONALIST,.—*A work of genuine scholarly excellence, and a 
useful offset to a great deal of the superficial current literature on such subjects.” 


MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY. For the Use of Schools, Art Stu- 
dents, and General Readers. Founded on the Works of 


Petiscus, Preller, and Welcker. By ALEXANDER S. MUR: — 


RAY, Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British 
Museum. With 45 Plates on tinted paper, representing 
more than 90 Mythological Subjects. Reprinted from the 
Second Revised London Edition. Crown 8yo, $1.75. 

THE CLEVELAND HERALD.—‘‘It has been acknowledged the best work on 


the subject to be found ina concise form, and as it embodies the results of the — 


latest researches and discoveries in ancient mythologies, it is superior for schoo] 
and general purposes as a hand book to any of the so-called standard works.” 


TRE BOSTON JOURNAL.—* Whether as a manual for reference, a text book 
for school use, or for the general reader, the book will be found very valuable and 
wteresting.” 


mh 


STANDARD TEXT BOOKS. 


= 


_ THE REFORMATION. By Prof. GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D., 


Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Yale College. Crown 
8vo, $2.50. 


THE CHRISTIAN UNION.—‘‘The book is a remarkable instance of that 
power of lucid condensation which its author possesses in a high degree. * * * 
The quality of condensedness renders it worthy to be studied, not merely read ; 
end it would be excellent as a text book in college.” 


PROF. CHARLES A. AIKEN, D.D., Princeton Theological Seminary.—“ Pro- 
- fessor Fisher’s History of the Reformation presents the results of prolonged, 
_ extended, and exact study, with those excellent qualities of style which are so 
characteristic of him—clearness, smoothness, judicial fairness, vividness, felicity 
- in arranging material, as well as in grouping and delineating characters.” 


_ THE ANCIENT EMPIRES OF THE EAST. By Prof. A. H. 
z SAYCE, of Oxford. 12mo, $1.50. 


ra THE S. S. TIMES.—“ Prof. Sayce’s history is the best popular book inits field. 
- It is abreast of modern research; its point of view is broad and comprehensive, 
and its style is such as to commend it to the wide public to which it is addressed.” 


> THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.—‘“ Mr. Sayce is recognized as the leading 
S Assyriologist of our day, and has given in this valuable book the latest 
SS ‘results of the latest researches into the mysterious antiquity of the ancient Orien- 
tal civilizations. He gives us information not to be found elsewhere, and much 
_ which lies dispersed in periodicals of only limited circulation. It is indispensable 
_ for every student of history.” 


_ THE UNITED STATES: Its History and Constitution. By ALEX- 
ANDER JOHNSTON, late Professor in Princeton College. 
12mo, $1.00. 


Professor Johnston’s work is unique in that it presents in a single 
volume of about three hundred pages, a lucid, scholarly, well-ordered 
narrative of the history of the United States, from the earliest 
_ discoveries down to the present time. As a compact manual for class 
nse it will be found invaluable. 


ca SCHOOL JOURNAL.—‘“A masterly statement of the constitutional and 
political history of the country. It is comprehensive and adequate, yet wonder- 
_ fully clear and compact. Its value is equally great for general reading, or for 
reference.” 


HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION 

. FOR BEGINNERS. By D. W. RANNIE. 12mo, $1.00. 

: THE N. Y. SUN.—“ As a compendium of the cardinal events and accepted 

_ principles of constitutional history it may be cordially recommexded to those 

~ who are beginning the study of a pclitical systcm.” 

P THE BOSTON COURIER.—‘‘The book is a very valuable manual for young 
. a 

people. The manner is clear and simple, and thc outlines are clear and accurate.’ 


CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS’ 


ee, 


EPOCHS OF HISTORY. 


CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, President of Corneil University.— A Serica 
of concise and carefully prepared volumes on special eras of history. Each i4 
devoted to a group of events of such importance as to entitle it te be regarded ag 
an epoch. Each is also complete in itself, and has no especial conzcction with 
the other members of the series. The works arc all written by authors selected 
by the editor on account of some especial qualifications for a portrayai of the 
period they respectively describe. The volumes form an excellent collection, 
especially adapted to the wants of a general reader.” 


NOAH PORTER, President of Yale College.—‘‘ The ‘ Epochs of History’ seem 
to me to have been prepared with knowledge and artistic skill to meet the wants 
of a large number of readers. To the young they furnish an outline or compen- 
dium which may serve as an introduction to more extended study. To those 
who are older they present a convenient sketch of the heads of the knowledge 
which they have already acquired. The outlines are by no means destitute of 
spirit, and may be used with great profit for family reading, and in select classes 
or reading clubs.” 


BISHOP JOHN F. HURST, Ex-President of Drew Theological Seminary.— 
“It appears to me that the idea of Morris in his Epocas is strictly in harmony 
with the philosophy of history—namely, that great movements should be treated 
not according to narrow geographical and national limits and distinction, but 
universally, according to their place in the general life of the world. The histor- 
ical Maps and the copious Indices are welcome additions to the volumes.” 


THE NATION.—* The volumes contain the ripe results of the studies of mea 
who are authorities in their respective fields.” 


EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A series of books narrating 
the History of Greece and Rome, and of their relations ta 
other countries at successive epochs. Edited by Rev. G. W. 
COX, and CHARLES SANKEY, M.A. Eleven volumes, 
16mo, with 41 Maps and Plans. Sold separately. Price pet 
vol., $1.00. The set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $11.00, 


TROY_ITS LEGEND, HISTORY, AND LITERATURE. By 8. G. W. BENJAMIN 
THE GREEKS AND THE PERSIANS. By G. W. Cox. 

TOE ATHENIAN EMPIRE. By G. W. Cox. 

TIE SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACIES. By CHARLES SANKEY. 
Ts" MACEDONIAN EMPIRE. By A. M. CURTEIS. 

EARLY ROME... By W. INE. 

ROME AND CARTHAGE. The Punic Wars. By R. BosworTH SMTT® 
THE GRACCHI, MARIUS AND SULLA. By A. H. BEESLEY. 

THE ROMAN TRIUMVIRATES. By CHARLES MERIVALE. 

THE EARLY EMPIRE. Ly W. WoLFo CaAPrs. 

fHE AGE OF THE ANTONINES. By W. WOLFo CAPES 


STANDARD TEXT POOKS. 
a 
EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. A series of books narrating 

the History of England and Europe at successive epochs 
subsequent to the Christian era. Edited by EDWARD E. 
MORRIS. Eighteen volumes, 16mo, with 77 Maps, Plans, 
and Tables. Sold separately. Price per vol., $1.00. The 
set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $18,00. 


THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES, By R. W. Cuurcu. 
THE NORMANS IN EUROPE. Ly A. H. Jounson. 

THE CRUSADES. By G. W. Cox, M.A. 

THE EARLY PLANTAGENETS. By Wm. Srusss. 

EDWARD III. By W. WARBURTON. 

THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK. By JAMES GAIRDNER. 


THE ERA OF THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION. By FREDERIC Suxs0HM. 
With Notes on Books in English relating to the Reformation. Ey Prof. 
GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D. 


THE EARLY TUDORS. Henry VII.; Henry VIII. ByC. E. Mosperty. 
THE AGH OF ELIZABETH. By M. CREIGHTON. 
_ THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR, 1618-1648. By SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER. 
THE PURITAN REVOLUTION. By SamuEL RAwsoON GARDINER. 
THE FALL OF THE STUARTS. By EpwarpD HALE. 
THE AGE OF ANNE. Dy Epwarp E. Morris. 
_THE EARLY HANOVERIANS. By Epwarp E. Morris. 
FREDERICK THE GREAT. By F. W. Loneman. 


THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND FIRST EMPTRE. By WILLIAM O’Connc 
Morris. With Appendix by ANDREW D. Warte, LL.D. 


THE EPOCH OF REFORM, 1830-1850. By JusTIN McCaRTuy. 

THE ENGLISH RESTORATION AND LOUIS XIV. By Osmunp Arry, M.A. 
THE HISTORY OF ROME, from the Earliest Time to the Period 
See of Its Decline. By Dr. THEODOR MOMMSEN. Translated, 
. with the author’s sanction and additions, by W. P. Dickson, 
D.D., LL.D. With an Introduction by Dr. Leonhard Schmitz. 
Reprinted from the Revised London Edition. Four volumes 
crown 8vo, gilttop. Price per set, $8.00. 


be LONDON TIMES.—<‘A work of the very highest merit; its learning is cxact 
and profound ; its narrative full of genius and skill; its descriptions of men are 
- aumirably vivid. We wish to place on record our opinion that Dr. Mommeen’s is 
_ by far the best history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Commonwealth.” 


ve ‘DR. SCHMITZ.—*‘Since the days of Niebuhr, no work on Roman History has 

- appeared that combines so much to attract, instruct, and charm the rceedcr. Its 
_ Style—a rare quality in a. Gcrmar author—is vigorous, spirited, and animate1 
_ Professor Mommsen’s work can stand a comparison with the roblest productions 
_ pf modern history.” ‘ 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS’ 


AN ADDITION TO THEODOR MOMMSEN'S HISTORY OF ROME. 


THE PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. From Cesar ta 
Diocletian. By THEODOR MOMMNSEN. Translated wit 
the author’s sanction and additions, by William P. Dickson 
D.D., LL.D. With ten maps, by Professor Kiepert. 2 vols., 
8vo, $6.00. 


CONTENTS: The Northern Frontier of Italy—Spain—The Gallic 
Provinces—Roman Germany and the Free Germans—Britain—The 
Danubian Lands and the Wars on the Danube—Greek Europe—Asia 
Minor —The Euphrates Frontier and the Parthians—Syria and the 
Land of the Nabatzans—Judea and the Jews—Egypt—The African 
Provinces. 


N. Y. SUN.—‘ Professor Mommsen’s work goes further ‘than any other ex- 
tant, or now looked for, to provide us with a key to the medizval history of the 
Mediterranean world.” 


PROF. W. A. PACKARD, in Presbytcrian Review.—‘‘ The author draws the 
wonderfully rich and varied picture of the conquest and administration of that 
great circle of peoples and lands which formed the empire of Rome outside of 
Italy, their agriculture, trade, and manufactures, their artistic and scientific life, 
through all degrees of civilization, with such detail and completeness as could 
have come from no other hand than that of this great master of historical research 
in all its departments, guided by that gift of historical imagination, for which he 
is equally eminent.” 


THE HISTORY OF GREECE. By Prof. Dr. ERNST CURTIUS. 
Translated by Adolphus William Ward, M. A., Fellow of St, 
Peter’s College, Cambridge, Prof. of History in Owen’s Col: 
lege, Manchester. Uniform with Mommsen’s History of 
Rome. Five volumes, crown 8vo, gilt top. Price per set, 
$10.00. 


LONDON ATHENAUM.—‘‘ Professor Curtius’ eminent scholarship i3 a suffl- 
cient guarantce for the trustworthiness of his history, while tho skill with which 
he groups his facts, and his effective mode of narrating them, combine to rendcr 
it no less readatle than sound. Prof. Curtius everywhere maintains the true 
Uignity and impartiality of history, and it is evident his sympathies are on the 
giJe of justice, humanity, and progress.” 


LONDON SPECTATOR,—“ We cannot express our opinion of Dr. Curtius’ 
book better than by saying that it may be fitly ranked with Theodor Mommsen’s 
preat work.” 


N. Y. DAILY TRIBUNE. —‘‘As an introduction to the study of Grecian history. 
io previous work is comparable to the present for vivacity and picturesqué ~ 
beauty, while in sound learnizg and accuracy of statement it is not inferior tq - 
he elaborate productions which enrich the literature of the age.” ; 


CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES AND 
EROU CE ELC o: 


THE GROUNDS OF THEISTIC AND CHRISTIAN BELIEF. By 
Prof. GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor of 
Ecclesiastical History in Yale College. Crown 8vo, $2.50. 


FROM THE PREFACE.—“ This volume embraces a discussion of the evidence. 
of both natural and revealed religion. Prominence is given to topics having 
gpecial interest at present from their connection with modern theories and diffi- 
culties. The argument of design, and the bearing of evolutionary doctrines 
on its validity, are fully considered. I have sought to direct the reader into lines 
of reflection which may serve to impress him with the truth contained in the 
remark that the strongest proof of Christianity is afforded by Christianity itself, 
and by Christendom as an existing fact. I venture to indulge the hope that they 
may derive from it some aid in clearing up perplexities, and some new light upon 
the nature of the Christian faith and its relation to the Scriptures.” 

JULIUS H. SEELYE, President of Amherst College.—‘* I find it as I should ex- 
pect it to be, wise and candid, and convincing to an honest mind. I congratulate 
you upon its publication, in which you seem to me to have rendered a high 
public service.” 

PROF. JAMES O. MURRAY, Of Princeton College.—* The volume meets here 
a great want, and meets it well. Itis eminently fitted to meet the honest doubts 
of some of our best young men. Its fairness and candor, its learning and ability 
in argument, its thorough handling of modern objections—all these qualities fit it 
for such a service, and a great service it is.” 


ESSAYS ON THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN: 
iTY. By Prof. GEORCE P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor 
of Ecclesiastical History in Yale College. 8vo, new and 
enlarged edition, $2.50. 

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.—“ Able and scholarly essays on the Super- 
natural Origin of Christianity, in which Prof. Fisher discusses such subjecis as 
the genuineness of the Gospel of John, Baur's view of early Christian History and 
Literature, and the mythical theory of Strauss.” 

THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE.—“ His volume evinces rare versatility of intellect, 
with a scholarship no less sound and judicious in its tone and extensive in its 
attainments than it is modest in its pretensions.” 

THE BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.—“ We know not where the student wili 
find a more satisfactory guide in relation to the great questions which have grown 

up between the friends of the Christian revelation and the most able of i:s assail: 


i q _ puts, within the memory of the present generation.” 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS’ 


| ee ee ee ee ee Se eee eee eee 
IR Ere 


THE PHILOSOPHIC BASIS OF THEISM. An Examination of the 
Personality of Man, to Ascertain his Capacity to Know and 
Serve God, and the Validity of the Principle Underlying the 
Defense of Theism. By SAMUEL HARRIS, D.D., LL.D., Pro: 
fessor of Systematic Theology in Yale College. 8vo, $3.50. 


Dr. Harris embodies in his work the results of his long meditation 
on the highest themes, and his long discussion and presentation of 
these truths. in the class-room. His fundamental positions are thor- 
ovghly in harmony with soundest modern thought and most trust- 
worthy modern knowledge. 


THE INDEPENDENT.—‘‘I1t is rare that a work, which is of necessity, so 
scverely metaphysical in both topics and treatment, is so enlivened by the 
varied contributions of a widely cultivated mind from a liberal course of 
reading. His passionate and candid argument cannoi fail to command the 
respect of any antagonist of the Atheistic or Agnostic schools, who will take 
the pains to read his criticisms or to review his argument. In respect to coolness 
and dignity and self-possession, his work is an excellent model for scientists, 
metaphysicians, and theologians of every complexion.” 


THE HARTFORD COURANT.—‘‘ Professor Harris’ horizon-lines are uncon- 
tracted. His survey of the entire realm he traverses is accurate, patient, and 
considerate. No objections are evaded. No conclusions are reached by saltatory 
movements. The utmost fairncss and candor characterize his discussions. No 
more thoroughly scientific work in plan or method or spirit has been done in our 
time. On almost every page one meets with cvidences of a wide and reflec- 
tive reading, not only of philosophy, but cf poctry and fiction as well, whicn 
enriches and illumines the whole course of thought.” 


THE SELF-REVELATION OF GOD. By SAMUEL HARRIS, 
D.D., LL.D., Professor of Systematic Theology in Yale Col- 
lege. Svo, $3.50. 


In this volume Dr, Harris presents a statement of the evidence of 
the existence of God, and of the reality of His revelation of Himself 
in the experience or consciousness of men, and the verification of the 
same by His further revelation of Himself in the constitution and 
ongoing of the universe, and in Christ. 


PROF. WM. G. T. SHEDD, D.D., in The Presbyterian Review.—‘‘ Such a 
work is not brought out in a day, but is the growth of years of professional study 
and reflection. Few books on apologetics have been recently produced that will 
be more influential and formative upon the mind of the theological or philosophi- 
cal student, or more useful. It is calculated te influence opinions, and to influence 
them truthfully, seriously, and strongly.” 

BISHOP HURST, in The Northwestern Christian Advocate.—‘*‘ We do not know 

a better work among recent publications than this one for building up old hopes 

and giving a new strength to one’s faith. The book is thoroughly evancs2lic, 

‘fresh, c2d weli wrought out. It is a valuable contribution to our Americup 
theology.” 


STANDARD TEXT BOOKS. 


ae ee ee 


THE THEORY OF PREACHING; or, Lectures on Homileticss 
By Professor AUSTIN PHELPS. 68vo, $2.50, 


This work is the growth of more than thirty years’ practical ex- 
perience in teaching. ‘The writings of a master of style, of broad and 
catholic mind are always fascinating ; in the present case the wealth 
of appropriate and pointed illustration renders this doubly the case. 


THE NEW YORK CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.—“ Ministers of all denominations 
and of all degrees of experience will rejoice in it as a veritable mine of wisdom.” 

THE INDEPENDENT.—‘ The volume is to be commended to young men as a 
guperb example of the art in which it aims to instruct them.” 

THE WATCHMAN.—* The reading of it is a mental tonic. The preacher 
cannot but feel often his heart burning within him under its influence. We could 
wish it might be in the hands of every theological student and of every pastor.” 


MEN AND BOOKS; OR, STUDIES IN HOMILETICS. Lectures 
Introductory to the “ Theory of Preaching.”’ By Professor 
AUSTIN PHELPS, D.D. Crown 8vo, $2.00. 


Professor Phelps’ second volume of lectures is devoted to a dis- 
cussion of the sources of culture and power in the profession of the 
pulpit, its power to absorb and appropriate to its own uses the world 
of real life in the present, and the world of the past, as it lives in 
books. 

PROFESSOR GEORGE P. FISHER.—‘“‘It isa live book, animated as well as 
sound and instructive, in which conventionalities are brushed aside, and the 
author goes straight to the marrow of the subject. No minister can read it 
without being waked up to a higher conception of the possibilities of his calling.” 

BOSTON WATCHMAN.—“ We are sure that no minister or candidate for the 
ministry can read it without profit. It is a tonic for one’s mind to read a book so 
laden with thought and suggestion, and written in a style sc fresh, strong, and 
bracing.” 


A TREATISE ON HOMILETICS AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY. 
By W. CG. T. SHEDD, D.D. Crown 8vo, $2.50. 


In this work, treating of the main points of Homiletics and Pastoral 
Theology, the author handles his subject in a masterly manner, and 
displays much original and highly suggestive thought. ‘The Homileti- 
cal part is especially valuable to ministers aud those in training for the 
ministry. Dr. Shedd’s style is a model of purity, simplicity and 
strength. 


THE NEW YORK EVANGELIST.—“ We cannot but regard it as, on the whole, 
the very best production of the kind with which we are acquainted. The topics 


discussed are of the first importance to every minister of Christ engaged in active 


service, and their discussion is conducted by earnestness as well as ability, and in 
a style which for clear, vigorous, and unexceptionable English, is itself a model.” 
THE CHRISTIAN INTELLIGENCER.—“ The ablest pook on the subject which 


the generation has produced.” 


’ 


MENTAL AND MORAL SCIENCE, ~ 


AN OUTLINE STUDY OF MAN; or, the Body and Mind in Ona 
System. With illustrative diagrams. Revised edition. By 
MARK HOPKINS, D.D., LL.D., late President of Williams 
College. 12mo, $1.75, 


This is a model of the developing method as applied to intellectual 
science. The work is on an entirely new plan. It presents man in 
his unity, and his several faculties and their relations are so presented 
to the eye in illustrative diagrams as to be readily apprehended. 
The work has come into very general use in this country as a man- 
ual for instruction, and the demand for it is increasing every year. 


GENERAL S. C. ARMSTRONG, Principal of Hampton Institute.—‘‘T am 
glad of the opportunity to express my high appreciation of Dr. Hopkins’ Outline 
Study of Man. It has done more for me personally than any book besides the 
Bible. More than any other it teaches the greatest of lessons, know thyself. Yor 
over ten years, I have made it atext book in the Senior Class of this school. It 
is, I think, the greatest and most useful of the books of the greatest of our Am- 
erican educators, Rev. Dr. Hopkins, and is destined to do a great work in forming 
not only the ideas but the character of youth in America and in other parts of the 
world.” 


PROF. ADDISON BALLARD, of Lafayette College.—*‘I have for years used 
Dr. Hopkins’ Outline Study of Man, in connection with his Law of Love, as a text 
book for our Senior Classes. I have done this with unfailing success and with 
increasing satisfaction. It is of incalculable advantage to the student to come 
under the influence, through his books, of this great master of thought and of style. 
Icannct speak of Outline Study in terms of too hearty commendation.” 


THE LAW OF LOVE, AND LOVE AS A LAW3 +s, Christian 
Ethics. By MARK HOPKINS, D.D., LL.D., late President 
of Williams College. 12mo, $1.75, 


This work is designed to follow the author’s Oudline Study of Man. 
As its title indicates it is entirely an exposition of the cardinal precept 
of Christian philosophy in harmony with nature and on the basis of 
reason. Like the treatise on mental philosophy it is adapted with 
unusual skill to educational uses. 

It appears in a new edition, which has been in part re-written in 
order to bring it into closer relation to his Outline Study of Mun, of 
which work it is really a continaaticn. More prominence has been 
given to the idea of Rights, but the fundamental doctrines of the 
treatise have not been changed. 


Saree, 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS’ 


Te, 


PSYCHOLOGY. By JAMES McCOSH, D.D., LL.D., President: 
of Princeton College. I.—The Cognitive Powers. IIl.—The 
Motive Powers. 2 vols.; 12mo. Sold separately. Each, 
$1.50. 


The first volume contains an analysis of the operations of the senses, 
and of their relation to the intellectual processes, with a discussion 
of sense perception, from the physiological side, accompanied by ap- 
propriate cuts, A third of the book is devoted to the Reproductive 
or Representative Powers, including such subjects as the association 
of ideas, the power of composition, etc., concluding with a discussion 
of the Comparative Powers. The second volume treats of the Motive 
Powers, as they are called, the Orective, the Appetent, the Impulsive 
Powers ; including the Conscience, Emotions, and Will. 


PROFESSOR WILLIAM DE W. HYDE, of Bowdoin College.—‘*The book is 
written in a clear and simple style; it breathes asweet and winning spirit; and 
it is inspired by a noble purpose. In these respects it is a model of what a text 
book should be.” 

S. L. CALDWELL, (ate President of Vassar College.—‘‘I have read the book 
with much interest. It is what was to have been expected from the ability and 
Jong experience of the author. The style is clear and simple; the matter is well 
distributed ; it well covers the ground usually taught in such text books, and I 
am sure any teacher would find it a helpful guide in his classes.” 


ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY. By 
GEORGE T. LADD, D.D., Professor of Mental and Moral 
Philosophy in Yale University. With numerous illustrations. 
8vo, $4.50. 


Professor Lad:i’s ‘‘ Physiological Psychology” is the first treatise 
that has attempica to present to English readers a discussion of the 


whole subject brovelit down to the most recent times. It includes the 


latest discoveries, and by numerous and excellent illustrations and 


- tables, bring's before the reader in a compact and yet lucid form the 


entire subject. 
The work kas three prixcipal divisions, of which, the first consists 


_ of a description of the structure and functions of the Nervous System 
‘considered simply as a mechanism. The second part describes the 
various classes of correlations which exist between the phenomena of 
the nervous mechanism and mental phenomeaa, with the laws of these 
various classes. The third part presents such conclusions as may be 


3 legitimately gathered or inferred concer#™¢ the nature of the human 


mind. 


PROF. WILLIAM JAMES in The Nation.— {fis erudition, and his broad- 
v.indedness are on a par with each other ; and his volume will probably for many 
years to come be the standard work of reference on the subject.” : 

THE SCHOOL JOURNAL.—“‘It is impossible in a brief notice to give any 
adequate conception of the scientific character and practical application of this 


- gdmirable volume. In its class it stands alone among American books. ae 
thorough student of psychology will rest satisfied until he owns a copy of this work” 


STANDARD TEXT BOOKS. 


a Oot 


FINAL CAUSES. By PAUL JANET, Member of the French 
Academy. With a Preface by Robert Flint, D.D., LL.D. 
From second French edition. 8vo, $2.50. 

PROF. FRANCIS L. PATTON, of Princeton Theological Seminary.—‘‘I ree 
gard Janet’s ‘ Final Causes’ as incomparably the best thing in literature on the 
subject of which it treats, and that it ought to be in the hands of every man who 
has any interest in the present phases of the theistic problem. Ihave recom- 
mended it to my classes in the seminary, and make constant use of it in my in- 
structions.” 

NOAH PORTER, D.D., LL.D., late President of Yate College.— -“Tam delightcd 
that you have published Janet’s ‘Final Causes’ in an improved form and at 4 
prico which brings it within the reach of many who desire to possess it. It is, in 
my opinion, the most suggestive treatise on this important topic which is access- 
idle in our language.” 


THE HUMAN INTELLECT. By NOAH PORTER, D.D.. LL.D., 
late President of Yale College. With an Introduction upon 
Psychology and the Human Soul. 8vo, $5.00. 


The author has not only designed to furnish a text book which shall 
be sufficiently comprehensive and scientic to satisfy the wants of the 
many students of psychology and speculative philosophy who are found 
in our higher institutions of learning, but also to prepare a volume 
which may guide the advanced student to a clear understanding and a 
just estimate of the questions which have perpetually appeared and 
reappeared in the history of philosophy. 


THE BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.—‘‘Tresident Porter's work, the result 
of thirty years’ professional labor, is not only the most important philosophical 
work that has appcarcd in our language since Sir William Hamilton’s, but its 
form as a manual makes it invaluable to students.” 

THE PRINCETON RCVIEW.—“‘After a careful examination of this truly great 
work, we are ready to pronounce it the most complete and exhaustive exhibition 
cf the cognitive faculties of the human soul to be found in our language, and, so 
far as we know, in any language. The work isa monument of the author’s in- 
cight, industry, learning, and judgment; one of the great productions of our 
time; an honcr to our country, and a fresh proof that genuine philosophy has not 
died out among ts.” 


FLEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL SCIENCE. A Manual ‘or 
Schools and Colleges. By NOAH PORTER, D.D., LL.D,, 
late President of Yale College. 8vo, $3.00. 


This is an abridgment of the a-thor’s ‘‘ Human Intellect,” contain- 
ing all the matter necessary for use in the class-room, and has been in- 
troduced as a text-book in Yale, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Oberlin, Bates, 
Hamilton, Vassar, and Smith Colleges ; Wesleyan, Ohio, Lehigh, and 
Wooster Universities, and many other colleges, academies, normal and 
high schools. . 

THE NEW YORK WORLD.—< The abridgment is very well done, the state 
ments being terse and perspicuous.” 

THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE,—‘ Presents the leading facts of inteDectte 
geience from the author’s point of view, with clearness and vigor.” 


Ste ee 


CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS’ 


ELEMENTS OF MORAL SCIENCE, Theoretical and Practical. 
By NOAH PORTER, D.D., LL.D., late President of Yale 
College. 8vo, $3.00, 


GEORGE S. MORRIS, Pro/essor of Ethics, University of Michigan.—“I have — 
read the work with great interest, and parts of it with enthusiasm. It isa vast 


improvement on any of the current text books of ethics. It is tolerant and — 


catholic in tone; not superficially, but soundly, inductive in method and ten- 
dency, and rich in practical suggestion.” 


JULIUS H. SEELYE, President Amherst College.—It is copious and clear, 


with ample scholarship and remarkable insight, and I am sure that all teachers 
of Moral Science will find it a valuable aid in their instructions.” 


OUTLINES OF MORAL SCIENCE. By ARCHIBALD ALEX- 
ANDER, D.D., LL.D. 12mo, $1.50, 


This book is elementary in its character, and is marked by great 
clearness and simplicity of style. It is intended to lay the foundations 
and elucidate the principles of the Philosophy of Morals. It is widely 
used in colleges and other institutions of learning, and is specially 
adapted for students whose age, or the time at whose disposal, does 
not permit the use of the more extended and abstruse works on ethics. 


THE THEORY OF MORALS. By PAUL JANET, Member of the 
French Academy. Translated under the supervision of 
President Noah Porter. 8vo, $2.50. 


Prof. Janet in this book gives us not only a clear and concise exam- 
ination of the whole study of moral science, but he has introduced into 
the discussion many elements which have hitherto been too mnch 
neglected. The first principles of moral science and the fundamental 
idea of morals the author describes with much precision, and presents 


an interesting and systematic exposition of them. 


SCIENCE.—* The book has lucidity and is full oflearning. Itis hardly extrav- 
agant to say that so clear and picturesque a treatise, in the hands of an alert 
teacher, might save the study of ethics from its almost inevitable fate of being 
very dull.” 


A THEORY OF CONDUCT. By ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. 
12mo, $1.00. 
“CONTENTS: The Theory of Right—The Theory of Duty—The 
Nature of Character—The Motive to Morality. 


Professor Alexander’s book is an essay in that department of 


_ metaphysics in which of recent years perhaps the most interest has 
_ been awakened. Rarely has the essence of so vast a problem been 


stated in such succint form. The work contains a very complete and 


_ searching examination of the various ethical theories and systems, 
together with the positive statement of the author’s own doctrine, ~ 


which finds the ethical impulse essentially religious. 


TRANSLATIONS OF PLATO. 


PHE DIALOGUES OF PLATO. Translated into English, with 
Analysis and Introductions. By B. JOWETT, M.A., Master 
of Balliol College, Oxford, and Regius Professor of Greek. 
A new and cheaper edition. Four vols., crown 8vo, per set, 
$8.00. 


THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE.—< The present work of Professor Jowett will be 
welcomed with profound interest, as the only adequate endeavor to transport the 
Inost precious monument of Grecian thought among the familiar treasurcs of 
English titerature. The noble reputation of Professor Jowett, both as a thinker 
and a scholar, it may be premised, however, isa valid guaranty for the excellence 
of his performance. He is known as one of the most hard-working students of 
the English universities, in the departments of philology and criticism, whose 
exemplary diligence is fully equalled by his singular acuteness of penetration, 
his clear and temperate judgment, and his rare and absolute fidelity to the inter- 
ests of truth.” 


THE NEW YORK EVENING POST.—“One of the most splendid and valuable 
gifts to literature that has for a long time been offered. The work has all the 
freedom and strength of an original, and the grace of language is only equalled 
by the profound scholarship displayed in the translation.” 


THE CLEVELAND HERALD.—“ Prof. Jowett’s Knowledge of Greek language 
and literaturé and of the spirit of the ancient Greek life and philosophy is pro- 
found. The rendering is accurate, the style easy and natural, and the very full 
explanatory and critical introductions to each section are of invaluable assistance. 
In the reproduction of this masterly translation the publishers have performed a 
valuable service to American letters.” 


PLATO’S BEST THOUGHTS. As compiled from Professor 
Jowett’s Translation of the Dialogues of Plato. By Rev. C. 
H. A. BULKLEY. A new edition, crown 8vo, $1.50. 


FROM THKE PREFACE,.—“<The present volume presents in the most accessible 
form the wide range of subjects upon which Plato dwells, and exhibits him in ali 
his varied aspects of philosopher, moralist, socialist, logician, rhetorician, 
scientist, and critic. The extracts here given have been carefully collected, so as 
to be unigue and integral in thought. While those who are desirous to peruse the 
complete translation of Prof. Jowett will doubtless do this, yet there are many 
others to whom this volume will be welcome as giving the finest wheat of Plato in 
g ready, readable form. Even the reader of the fuller work may be glad to have 2 
compendium of Platonic thought so available for cursory perusal and casual quo 
tation.” 


THE EVANGELIST.—“‘ This volume makes the best things in Plato accessib¥ 
rad available, and its index gives it the character of a dictionary.” 


awe ee 


Well nigh superfluous.” 


STANDARD TEXT BOOKS. 


SOCRATES. A Translation of the Apology, Crito and parts of 
the Phedo of Plato, containing the Defence of Socrates at 
his Trial, his Conversation in Prison, with his Thoughts on 
the Future Life, and an Account of his Death. With an In- 
troduction by Professor W. W. Goodwin, of Harvard Col- 
lege. 12mo,c'oth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. 


TALKS WITH SOCRATES ABOUT LIFE. Translations from 
the Gorgias and the Republic of Plato. 12mo, cloth, $1.00; 
paper, 50 cents. 


A DAY IN ATHENS WITH SOCRATES. Translations from the 
Protagoras and the Republic of Plato. Being conversations 
between Socrates and other Greeks on Virtue and Justice. 
12mo cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. 


The first of these volumes sketches the personal character and 
moral position of Socrates, together with Plato’s own speculations ; the 
recond volume presents in forcible and elegant English the practical 


philosophy and pure morality of the Gorgias and Republic, accom- 


panied by an able introduction and explanatory notes ; while the last 
volume has for its object to give a vivid picture not so much of Plato’s 
Philosophy as of the age in which he lived, and to enable the reader to 
enter into the every-day scenes of Athenian life, and to become, as it 
were, an actual participator in the action. 


PROFESSOR GOOOW:N.—‘I have advised the translator to publish these 
versions of Plato, in the belief that they will be welcomed by many to whom both 
Plato and Socrates have hitherto beer merely venerated names; especially by 
those whose interest in knowing what Plato and Socrates really taught has been 
doubly checked by ignorance of Greek and by the formidable aspect of Plato’s 
complete works, even in an English translation.” 


W. D. HOWELLS, in Harper's Monthty.—‘‘ That ‘Day in Athens with Socra- 
tes,’ those ‘ Talks with Socrates about Life,’ and that first volume containing the 
Apology, and the Phiedo, all strike a note so familiar, deal with questions so liv- 
Ing, that they seem of present concern and modern fact. Eminent Scholars, men 
of much Latin and more Greek, attest the skill and truth with which the versions 
are made; we can confidently speak of their English grace and clearness. They 
peem a ‘model of style,’ because they are without manner and perfectly simple.” 


THE NEW YORK EVENING POST.—* We do not remember any translation 


- gf a Greek author which is a better specimen of idiomatic English than this, or a 


more faithful rendering of the real spirit of the original into English as good and 
as simple as the Greek. Such a translation renders the reading of the origina 


. 


Pree DOC TRU 


SC) REI S GAR Pee ies 


A Critical, Historical, and Dogmatic Inquiry into the Origin 
and Nature of the 


OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 


By GEORGE T. LADD, D.D., 


PROFESSOR OF MENTA. #*%D MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN YALE COLLEGE. 


2 VOLUMES, SvVO,; — = i ai = a = $7.00. 


BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.—‘ It is really a cyclopedia in the 
form of a connected treatise of all the great questions that have been 
raised—we might almost say of all the questions that can be raised—con- 
eerning the character, authority, and relations to religious thought aud 
life of the Old Testament. We can only say, concerning this immense and 
diversified mass of discussion, that the author’s stand-point is that of lib- 
eral orthodoxy. . ... He depends upon no dogmatic or infallible dicta ; 
evidence is fully adduced, and argument fairly conducted.” 


J. HENRY THAYER, D.D., lately Professor of Sacred Literature in the 
Theological Seminary at Andover.—‘‘ It is the most elaborate, erudite, judi- 
sious discussion of the doctrine of Scripture, in its various aspects, with 
which I ani acquainted. .... I have no hesitation in saying that, for en- 
abling a young minister to present views alike wise and reverent respect- 
ng the nature and use of Sacred Scripture, nay, for giving him in general, a 
Biblical outlook upon Christian theology, both in its theoretical and its prac- 
tical relations, the faithful study of this thorough, candid, schvularly work 
will be worth to him as much as half the studies of his seminary course.” 


REFORMED QUARTERLY REVIEW.—‘‘ No other work on the sub- 
ect in the English language, s° far a3 we know, is so complete and satie- 
factory,” 


THE DOCTRINE OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. 


SN a RD 

CHiCAGO INTER-OCEAN.—“ We doubt whether during the age . 
‘here has been a more scholarly acd masterly argument added to the liter- 
ature of Christianity than this critical review of the doctrine of Sacred 


Beripture by Professor Ladd.” 


THE LITERARY WORLD, BOSTON.—‘‘ The appearance of this 
work is occasion for profound and general congratulation. Within the 
sines of purely theological literature, we recall no single book of our own 
land and times which deserves comparison with it for breadth, strength, 
and thoroughness. Beyond the narrow circle of specialists, also, so noble 
an achievement of American thought and scholarship demands a wide 
recognition in the field of letters, and even makes appeal to our patriotic 


interest and pride.” 


CHRISTIAN UNION.—‘' We do not know where else to look in the- 
ological literature for a work which, pursuing an inductive method, and 
possessing an impartial spirit, endeavors, not to prove the Bible to be this 
or that, but to find out what the Bible is. We do not know where else to 
look for a book which has even attempted to ascertain, by a careful and 
a candid examination of the Bible itself, what it claims for itself. The 
work is a necessity to the minister and the theological student who desires 
to get a doctrine of the Bible combining ripe scholarship and spiritual 


perception.” 


GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History 
in Yule College.—‘* Professor Ladd’s work is from the pen of an able and 
trained scholar, candid in spirit and thorough in his researches, It is so 
comprehensive in its plan, so complete in the presentation of facts, and so 
slosely related to ‘the burning questions’ of the day, that it cannot fail to 
enlist the attention of all earnest students of theology.” 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS, PUBLISHERS, 
743-745 Broadway, New Yoré 


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